A New Hero in a New Land
by Verdalt1
Summary: A land where Magic is not secluded, a land where Dragons and mystical creatures still exist. In another world lies a lone hero who strive for the happiness of everyone. Fate seems to work on the strangest of ways... then again, a hero's duty is never done, right?
1. The Fateful Encounter

Author's notes: Yo, I've just recently started writing here on . This is my first ever fanfiction that I've ever written. Go easy on me with the reviews, I'm not really confident in my writing skills as I've just started. So, I've been toying with the idea of throwing Shirou post UBW route in Fairy Tail Universe (Yes, I've read the VN). Initially, I've thought on throwing Shirou there as a human, not as a Servant. But, after gathering information from the Type-moon wikia, the route that I can take in this story with using Shirou as a human is fairly limited than he is as a Servant. I've also read some of F/SN and Fairy Tail x-over, although I only enjoyed one of them. 'Emiya Shirou being summoned as a celestial spirit' Idea had already been taken, so I had a hard time deciding. And I've come to a conclusion, "Hey, why not blame Zelretch?".

(I do not own Fate/Stay Night, nor do I own Fairy Tail)

Well, enough rambling from me, enjoy the story!

**Edited by Vandenbz.**

[Chapter 1] [The Fateful Encounter]

Rain poured down on the silent night in which an army of the undead had invaded moments before. Standing in the center of a burning village was a man in red, surrounded by the corpses of unsightly beings known as Dead Apostles. This man, a person who answered to the name of Emiya Shirou, had overloaded his magic circuits by rushing to save the civilians from the ambush of those things. He had been just getting back from the Apostle Hunt, when he learnt about the invasion from one of the Enforcers. None from the Magus Association were willing to back up the village, so he volunteered. Everyone there thought he was crazy, even Rin objected to this idea. Shirou had been planning to go alone to defend that village from thousands of Dead Apostles, despite his low prana levels due to getting back from the Hunt. Rin was adamant that he couldn't go, so there was only one thing left to do. Shirou knocked her out in the gentlest way possible. And this was the result.

The man in red fell on his back into the muddy water. Shirou coughed and let out a glob of blood dribble from the side of his mouth. His face was decorated in cuts and bruises, his drenched white hair spattered with both dirt and blood. His body muscles were torn; he can't even move an inch of his finger. Emiya Shirou was dying. His magic circuits are fried, his body covered with deep wounds, and parts of his torso were slashed open. Blood stained the earth as Shirou's life faded. For Shirou it doesn't really matter though. He had managed to save all of them. Thousands of innocent lives had been saved. For once, he managed to prove that he could save everyone. For once, he managed to prove to Archer that he was wrong. The villagers were evacuated moments before the attack, leaving him alone on that night.

Sounds of running footsteps heading towards him reached his ears.

SPLASH! SPLASH! SPLASH!

Rin Tohsaka ran towards the fallen Emiya Shirou, panic clearly reflected on her face. Droplets of water fell down from her drenched hair. She knelt before Shirou and immediately cast some healing magic on him. It was futile though, hell she knew it was futile. Tears started to flow down from Rin's face. "Don't you dare die on me Shirou! Don't you dare!" She practically screamed with tears dropping down from her face.

Shirou's body kept being motionless, but something on his face changed. He smiled.

He simply smiled at her. A genuine smile; a smile of someone whose burden has been lifted from their shoulders.

At that night, on that night full of blood and swords, Emiya Shirou had died with a smile on his face.

On that same night, cries and screams full of anguish, pain, and despair of losing a loved one echoed throughout the whole night.

(Scene Break)

X773, August 14th

Tenrou Island, the holy ground of the Fairy Tail guild. The island itself is known for its gigantic tree that is deeply rooted on the center of the island, also known as the Great Tenrou Tree. On this island also lies the first Fairy Tail's Guild Master resting place, Mavis Vermilion. A strong barrier protected this island, making it impossible to find no matter what magic it is used. The Island's purpose was to protect Mavis Vermilion's resting place from intruders. What many people did not know, is that the Black Mage Zeref, also known as the Black Wizard, was sealed on that very same island. "Was" is actually more accurate.

(At some forest on Tenrou Island)

Walking in the center of a forest near the coastal beach was a lone figure by the name of Zeref, the claimed most evil mage of all time. He wore black robes with golden trimmings and an open collar, along with a large, white, flowing toga draped around his main body and across his chest. The nearby vegetation, once lush and green turned rotten and dead. Birds came falling down from the sky, killed instantaneously. Just moments ago, Zeref was able to break free from his seal. His darkness though, was still sealed inside of him. Thus, what passerby would see was not an overpowered, evil maniac that will massacre an entire town just for laughs. Instead he appeared to be an overpowered, kind and gentle mage that lacked control of his magic which as a result unintentionally killed everything around him within a 20 meter radius.

Zeref ceased walking and looked up on the sky."Natsu…" He muttered. "I fear that you will be unable to kill me when the time comes." A tear trailed down his face. For Zeref, whose only existence was causing destruction from the day he set out into the world of living, his only redemption would be death. For many centuries he was invincible. No one in Earthland was capable of killing him. In his whole lifetime, the best thing they could do to him was sealing him. Zeref did not blame them though; even he was incapable of getting rid of his own life. If he could, he would have done so many centuries ago. His only existence only brought suffering, destruction, and death. He lost count of how many he had killed, both intentionally and unintentionally. Zeref believed that Natsu, the boy that he learned about while he was sealed, would have the power necessary to kill him one day. How long he did not know, but Natsu will have that power. That was the main problem, since he did not know when someone would be crazy enough to attempt unsealing him completely, there might not be enough time for Natsu to gain the necessary power to even scratch him. And this was the reason why he broke free from the seal, to use a magic long forgotten by mankind, a Lost Magic only known to him and only him. A forbidden summoning magic that called upon the beings that he had heard about, entities identified as Heroic Spirits. He could only do this ritual once though, as the book he had found concerning the summoning ritual that he had obtained was lost hundreds of years ago.

'Heroic Spirits…' Zeref mentally thought.

Heroic Spirits were depicted as elemental spirits of humanity that had accomplished many great achievements in their lives, such as saving the world from great peril and after their respective deaths had become the object of worship, admiration, and lore. Beings that had ascended to a place known as the Throne of Heroes and become an existence closer to Divine Spirits in order to protect humanity. What he would summon he did not know, since he couldn't remember any notable heroes during his whole reign of destruction. Since most of the proclaimed heroes that came after his head were killed even before touching him, he doubted that they could be classified as one. Zeref, the most powerful mage known in all of Earthland's history, was unsure. Zeref wasn't planning on being killed now. He planned on summoning this Heroic Spirit from somewhere far away from here. His darkness must be killed alongside him, to fully destroy him once and for all. With his Living Magic, he could create little demon familiars that would do his bidding for him. And so he did, he created 2 little demon familiars and sent them away to the Northern Continent, somewhere void of human population, A forest surrounded by mountain ranges. He'd do the summoning from Tenrou Island of course; he could order his familiars to carry out his will. Escaping from the island was impossible, since he was still somewhat sealed in Tenrou. Once Zeref's familiars reached the destined place, he had them draw a magic circle to match the one he read.

Zeref closed his eyes and started chanting, his vision replaced with that of his familiars.

"I hereby purpose."

The summoning circle glowed red

"My will shall create thy body,"

A gust of wind blew and caused his hair to flip albeit slightly.

"And thy sword shall lead me to my fate."

A drop of sweat trailed down his neck. Not because the process was draining too much of his magic (he had plenty of it), but because of his nervousness and curiosity of what he might summon.

"Abiding the summons of the Black Warlock,"

Of course, since he did not know of this 'Holy Grail' thing existing in Earthland, he chose to replace the word with something else.

"If thou dost accept to this will and reason, answer me!"

He needed someone that can bring forth miracles, a hero that this world lacks. Someone with the ability to create an era of peace, an era that does not need to fear the name Zeref the Black Mage.

"I hereby swear. I will be all that is good on the eternal world."

All that is good? Him? The thought alone was so false it almost made him chuckle. It matters not, since he only followed the incantations as he remembered them.

"I will be the disposer of evil in the eternal world."

This time, he suppressed a snort. He was what his people consider as "evil", and he did not blame them. His control over his magic had only been definite when he hardened his heart and became ruthless and cold, like the Zeref of legend. But now, he was sick of it. He didn't truly wish to destroy everything he set his path on. The sin of taking thousands of lives was heavy, and the only atonement would be for him to cease existing.

"Thou clad with great trinity, I hereby summon you!"

Maybe, after so long, his wish might be fulfilled. A hero that slew evil and rid the world from it, someone that could hurt him, someone that could actually kill him!

"Guardian of Balance!"

The circle's glow overwhelmed the familiar's eyes and Zeref's vision is temporarily blinded. As the familiars regained their eyesight, what Zeref saw was a tall, tanned man with white hair standing on the summoning circle. His grey eyes could be compared to that of steel, but with a hint of kindness visible on it. The man's face was free from any baby fat that, if there had been any girls or women in the area, a huge chance they will squeal on how manly he is. Tight black leather armor with silver thin-line patterns that trailed from his chest to his stomach was worn by the stranger, armor that revealed his toned muscles. Black pants and steel boots covered the legs and feet. A red shroud that covers both of his arms, shoulders, and from the back of his waist to his legs finished the man's attire. He has this aura in him that automatically told Zeref that this person was a warrior that has experienced many things on the battlefield, a veteran if you will. What the most intriguing about the man was that Zeref could not feel any evil radiating from him. And for the first time, the man spoke.

"Servant Archer, upon your summoning I have come forth. I ask of you, are you my master?"

'Servant? Master? Ah yes, the book did say about the master and servant relationship' Zeref thought.

(Scene Break)

Shirou looked around in confusion. First, he died after the invasion of the dead apostles. A while later, he was summoned to a world that was definitely not his. The lush vegetation, the surrounding mountain range, and the 2 little demon familiars in front of him. He was sure the demon familiars weren't the one he made a contract with, he felt the connection to someone else, albeit he couldn't pinpoint where his master was exactly. That was to be expected, since Zeref himself was currently held on Tenrou Island, a place with a barrier that made the island itself unable to be located. Then something weird happened. The 2 little familiars' eyes glowed white and a projection of man in black with a toga around his main body across his chest came into view.

Shirou, seeing the projection of the man, spoke."Ah, are you the one who has summoned me?"

Zeref, feeling the confusion radiating from the man, answered. "Yes, that is correct. I'm the one that made the contract with you."

Perplexed by the situation, Shirou asked Zeref. "Why did you summon me? How did you do it?"

He could feel it. In this world, there was no such thing as a Holy Grail War. Shirou knew from the information that he gained upon being summoned as a Servant in this world. Of course, such a thing is important so that Servants can blend in naturally to the era they are summoned and to avoid things such as culture shock that could cripple their potential. This world shouldn't be able to know about the Holy Grail War, Heroic Spirits, the Throne of Heroes, or even how to summon Servants. Hell the magic in this world was different from his world's Magecraft. Yet, this man before him had been able to do it.

"As for how I summoned you, I found a book lying on the desk of my castle hundreds of years ago that appeared out of nowhere. I didn't think that the book provided true information, so I decided to gamble a little," Zeref explained.

Shirou's eye upon hearing that twitched a little. There is only one possible explanation for all of this.

'Zelretch' He cursed the old man's name repeatedly in the back of his mind. Who else could travel to parallel worlds and mess with those worlds just for laughs.

(Somewhere Else~)

On the top of the Clock's Tower, The Wizard Marshall Kishua Zelretch Schweinorg sneezed. He grinned; someone must have been cursing his name right now. The old wizard was currently seated on his office chair. Before him sat his two apprentices, Tohsaka Rin and Luviagelita Edelfelt.

Luvia, seeing her master's creepy grin curiously asked," Master, is everything alright?"

"Hmm~? There's no problem whatsoever. Though I am feeling that something interesting will happen and I won't be there to see it."

(Back on Tenrou...)

Zeref, confused by Shirou's reaction narrowed his eye. "Are you alright?"

Shirou cleared his throat and once again asked," And where is that book right now?"

"Ah, I seemed to have lost it sometime after reading it... It mysteriously disappeared about an hour after I finished reading all of it." He answered.

Shirou looked away and grumbled for a moment about shoving sharp and pointy things into a particular old man's buttocks before turned his attention back at Zeref again. "Right, explain to me on why you summoned me to this world," He demanded.

Zeref began explaining things. He told Shirou on how he lived for centuries, causing pain and suffering for hundreds of years. How he wished to die for countless years, only to be denied of it. About the existence of Natsu, the boy that will have the ability to kill him one day but lacks the proper time to develop his magic to the point of being able to hurt him. Zeref also described the book that revealed the information about Heroic Spirits. Entities that were able to defy laws of the universe and make miracles. He told Shirou that he believed if there is someone that could end his life for real, it would be them.

After a while of explaining, Shirou's mind pondered for a while. His master reminded him of Archer, the Archer that he fought as an enemy Servant of Rin in the Fifth Holy Grail War. An alternate possibility of Emiya Shirou that accepted a contract with the world and became a Counter Guardian. It was a bit nostalgic for Shirou actually. Shirou and Archer were not the same. When Archer had accepted the contract with the world and became a Counter Guardian, he refused. He chose to save everyone he could without accepting the contract. Shirou knew if he had accepted the contract on that particular day, he would have received the same fate as Archer. Heh, maybe Rin did succeed in making him love himself albeit just a little. Where Archer refused to share his beliefs to others, Shirou shared his ideals to the people he protected and saved. Archer was an enigma, Shirou was thought of as a hero by the people he saved. Where Archer was considered as a martyr, Shirou was loved and admired. If his master was similar to that of Archer, that only meant that he had to save him. After all, no one deserved the fate of having to watch the cruelty of the world for eternity.

_Archer opened his eyes._

_"Yes, I saw it over and over. Meaningless massacres… meaningless suffering… meaningless happiness! I was forced to watch it all!"_

_He glared at Shirou with hatred. "Even when I refused to look, it surrounded me."_

_Archer traced a nameless sword on his hand and struck at Shirou who quickly parried the blade._

_"This isn't what I wished for!" He declared._

_Archer's and Shirou's sword broke upon contact and they distanced themselves. Both of them traced Kanshou and Bakuya. Archer and Shirou clashed their blades again, both struggling for dominance._

_With their blades locked, Archer shouted," I didn't become a Guardian for this!"_

'They're the same…'

While not exactly the same, they are somewhat similar. Archer and Zeref. A Counter Guardian and the Black Mage. One stuck in a loop where he will be summoned to prevent the destruction of the world's balance, forever cursed to take the lives of people to save humanity as a whole. Archer was branded as the mastermind of a war that he so desperately tried to stop. Zeref, the most powerful mage to ever exist. A man fated to cause destruction for an eternity. When he considers the weight of human life, his magic powers went out of control, making him unintentionally kill everything surrounding him. On the other hand, when he hardened his heart, becoming ruthless and cold like the legend told about him, he could fully control his magic. Either way he lost.

Shirou's attention turned back towards Zeref's projection. He smiled at him.

"I will save you," He said to Zeref.

"Not as a servant, not as a heroic spirit, but as a fellow human. That is my promise to you Zeref."

Upon hearing this, Zeref closed his eyes and smiled back at him. "Thank you…"

He opened his eyes and said to Shirou," Archer, I predict that the seal that holds me won't break completely for another 11 years. I must reseal myself to avoid unnecessary attention. I won't be able to contact you any longer and I won't be able to supply you with the necessary magic power. Do you have a solution to this problem?"

Shirou thought about the contract again. If Zeref was to be sealed again, he wouldn't be able to survive long in this world due to a lack of prana. There was a solution for this problem though. He could break the contract from Zeref and search for another master as an alternative magical power source. Rule Breaker, a jagged dagger that belongs to the Witch of Betrayal, Medea of Colchis, a magus from the Age of Gods. It was the ultimate anti-magic Noble Phantasm capable of dispelling any kind of thaumaturgy. The magic in this world was no different. Enchantments, connections bounded through contracts, and creatures created and maintained by prana would all be returned to their original components in a state "before they were made." It was a blade that he had encountered from Gilgamesh's Gate of Babylon from the Fifth Holy Grail War.

"Well, there is a possible solution. I could break the contract and find another master as an alternative power source," He explained. "I could stay materialized in this world for two days without a master, though my combat capability will be limited for a while." His Independent Action was useful at a time like this. Furthermore, he was an Archer-class Servant, which was known for their Independent Action ability. "Do you have a suggestion?" Shirou asked.

Zeref thought about it. He came to a decision. "There is a guild by the name of Fairy Tail in Magnolia Town, the most powerful guild in Fiore. If there is a person that I would recommend there, it's the Guild Master, Makarov Dreyar."

"How far is it from here?"

"About three days travel on foot" Zeref answered.

Three days… He wasn't by any means a normal human; he could reach the destination in less than a day. Zeref gave him the directions needed to reach Magnolia Town. Right now, Shirou was in the country of Bosco, located east from Fiore. He would need to pass through the woods and a town, and he would reach Fiore. All he needed to do next after that was ask for directions.

"It seems my time is up Archer. I must seal myself for now. I thank you, and wish you luck." With that, the projection disappeared and the 2 familiars faded into black sparkles. Shirou couldn't feel any prana flowing into him anymore. He traced Rule Breaker and pricked his chest lightly. A light glow emerged from his body until it faded. The contract had been severed, but he had a job to do. Within seconds his figure was gone and he rushed to get out of the forest.

(Scene Break)

It had been about three hours after the contract was broken. From tree to tree Shirou jumped. His prana reserves were still good to go; he didn't feel like he'd disappear anytime soon. After a few minutes of jumping and running, he felt a presence nearby. A young girl was running away from something. Some things, he corrected himself. Shirou knew he could never abandon a little girl running for her life. No, that would go against his whole reason of living. He was someone that would throw himself into danger at a moment's notice just to save a stranger. That was Emiya Shirou.

Shirou followed the girl's presence and saw four giant, green, scaly creatures with spikes on their heads chasing after the girl. The creatures had large wings attached to their arms, a scaly torso, and a tail.

'Wyverns…'

These creatures were implied to be very territorial and, thus, live solitary lives. It was very unusual for them to be in groups such as this. Their sharp teeth, claws, and feet made them quite a dangerous threat. Furthermore, there were four of them. If he didn't act quickly the girl wouldn't survive much longer. The girl ran towards a dead end of interlocked trees and was quickly surrounded by her pursuers. Shirou jumped to a nearby tree and traced his favorite black bow on his left hand.

"Trace On..." He muttered to no one in particular.

On his right hand, he traced Hrunting the sword of Beowulf. He took aim at one of the wyvern preparing to lunge at the girl. Shirou poured prana on the sword; Not enough to make it broken, but enough for the blade to activate its special property. Red sparks began emitting out of the blade, making it look like red electricity was flowing through it. He finished his preparation by reinforcing his eyes with prana, enabling him to see his target up to four kilometers from his current position. Shirou's current location was approximately a couple hundred meters away from the creatures, he wouldn't miss the shot. Not like he ever missed his target anyway.

(Scene Change)

Six year old Lucy Heartfilia was not having a good day. She had been playing in the forest with her mother until she wandered off and got lost. She didn't know what to do, she was about to cry for help when suddenly four scary creatures appeared out of nowhere. She was running away from the hungry beasts until she fled into a cluster of trees with crisscrossing branches, gaps small enough that even she couldn't squeeze through. The little girl thought it was the end for her. When one of the creatures lunged to eat her she closed her eyes and waited for the end. Right then, she heard a strange sound right in front of her followed by a poignant silence. Lucy opened her eyes, and saw a sword sticking out of the head of a dead creature. The thing that was supposed to be eating her right now; lay on the dry ground, sword sticking out of its head with its blood leaking down to the waiting dirt and grass.

Fast, too fast even. She hadn't even heard the shot, only the impact itself.

The air in front of her seemed to blur, revealing a white haired man with a red outfit and tanned skin standing with his back to her, between her and the wyverns with a sword in each hand. Lucy noted that one was white while the other had a black blade.

She didn't know it at the time, but these swords were known as Kanshou and Bakuya. These blades were "married" twin swords that represented yin and yang, weapons that Shirou encountered in the Fifth Holy Grail War that were wielded by a Heroic Spirit known as Archer. Shirou had developed an affinity for using this pair of twin falchions. The white and black alloy from this pair of blades gleamed under the sun.

"Are you alright?" The man before her spoke.

"Y-Y-Yes," Lucy said in a small voice. The man looked just like the hero her mother used to tell her about in bedtime stories. A hero that saved the damsel in distress just in the nick of time.

"Stay right there, I promise I won't let them hurt you." Shirou prepared a stance that he learnt from studying Archer during the Fifth Holy Grail War. The stance itself revolved around showing his opponents limited openings, forcing them to attack those openings in order to defeat him. Due to Shirou knowing where these openings were, he could predict where the enemy would strike and defend accordingly. Upon blocking/parrying/dodging the blow, Shirou could then retaliate with a counterattack. Due to extensive contact with his alternate self, Shirou was able to absorb much of Archer's fighting style. During his own lifetime, he was able to improve that stance of his by taking advice from his comrades when he was still alive.

The wyverns eyed him warily. To kill one of their kind that easily, this man before them proved to be quite dangerous. One of the wyverns lunged at him, attempting to bite off his arm. Shirou easily dodged by jumping ten meters back. Shirou used that momentum to rush at the wyvern and remove its head by crossing his blades and using enough force to cut through the scales, leaving the wyvern with blood gushing from its now vacant neck. Seeing this, the two wyverns attacked together, attempting to overwhelm the man. With their giant claws, the two wyverns let loose a barrage of deathly slashes. Shirou dodged all of them with ease, being many times more agile, powerful, and battle-hardened than a normal human made him very hard to hit. The barrage of unending attacks began to slow, leaving the ground with claw marks and the trees tore to ribbons.

The moment the wyverns began to tire, Shirou slashed Kanshou into one of the wyvern's wings, cutting it off in one move. With a pained roar, the wyvern fell to its feet and Shirou stabbed Bakuya into its head. Blood dirtied the black alloy of the blade as it took the life of the third wyvern.

Shirou pulled Bakuya out from the wyvern's head and turned towards the last one. The wyverns were intelligent creatures, knowing when they were outmatched, and they would not risk their lives just for a one-time meal. The last wyvern turned its back and retreated to the sky. Shirou, upon seeing it withdraw, let his sword fade and turned towards the little girl he had just saved.

Shirou smiled."I told you didn't I? I won't let them harm you."

Lucy looked at him with awe and run towards Shirou, hugging him in the process. "It was scary onii-chan!" Lucy started sobbing on him.

Shirou upon seeing this let out a smile and put a hand on her hair, fully intent on comforting her.

"There, there, let it all out."

For the last 5 minutes, Lucy cried to her heart's content on Shirou's waist.

(Scene Break)

"Say, onii-chan…" Lucy leaned her head on Shirou's right shoulder.

"Hmm?" Shirou mused.

"What's your name?" Lucy curiously asked.

They were walking out from the forest towards the nearby town with Lucy on Shirou's back. Coincidentally Lucy's family is on the town he was heading.

"Well, I usually let people call me Archer as a nickname, but I'll tell you my real name instead." He turned his head to her face with a gentle smile.

"My name is Shirou, Emiya Shirou. Nice to meet you, Lucy-chan" Shirou said with a small grin.

After fifteen minutes of continuous walking, Shirou saw the light coming from the exit. He walked towards the exit and saw a blonde woman on her late 20s accompanied by a walking goat with sunglasses searching hastily for someone.

'Must be one of those Celestial Spirit mages...'

Lucy slid down Shirou's back and called to the woman," Mama!"

'Hmm? The woman must be her mother…' Shirou mused.

"Lucy!" The woman opened her arms in the attempt to hug the little blonde girl.

"Geh, such a wonderful mother - daughter reunion! It brings tears to meh eyes." Anime tears flowed down the Goat man's face while his hands are wiping his eyes.

Shirou sweat dropped at that. Even after gaining all the information he needed in this world, there are many things he wasn't used to. One of them was seeing the sight of a sobbing goat man.

'I should get going now…' Shirou was about to leave when Lucy's mother called him.

"Ah, wait a minute!" She ran towards Shirou.

"I haven't thanked you for bringing Lucy back safe and sound," She declared.

"Ah, don't mention it. It was just by some chance I managed to find her." Being the discrete person he was, Shirou just waved the problem like it was nothing.

Lucy ran towards her mother and her onii-chan. "You should have seen it Mama! Shirou onii-chan defeated those scary green winged-thingies with his swords!"

"Shirou? Ah, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Layla Heartfilia. You have my thanks for saving my daughter." Layla extended her hand towards Shirou.

Seeing this, Shirou also lend out his hand for a handshake."Shirou, Emiya Shirou."

(Scene Break)

Layla had invited Shirou to come visit her family's villa, but unfortunately he had to go to Magnolia Town fast before his prana reserves were depleted. Another fact that he learnt about the mages in this world, rather than the use of prana which was originally composed of: Mana, the life force of the planet that exists in the atmosphere and Od, the energy found in living organisms that's replenished by the Magic Circuits stored in the soul, they only needed Mana, or Eternano as this world called it. Every Mage in this world had a container that determined the limits of their Magic Power, and in the case that it becomes empty, Eternano comes from the atmosphere and enters the Mage's body. After a while, their magic powers would return to normal.

It was a bit unfair actually. Where he needed Od and Mana to survive, the Mages here only required Mana/Eternano. And even if their reserves were gone, they wouldn't die. On the other hand, he would most certainly die from such a thing. So, in theory, the Mages here did have Od, but they do not need to use it to utilize their magic. It was proven when he felt prana flowing to him after his contract with Zeref. It didn't really matter though, since he was a servant and he didn't have much of a problem in besting his potential enemies.

It was a bit hard to say goodbye though, since Lucy became adamant on him staying with her. Which he most certainly couldn't do, mind you, he did not have the time to do that unless he wanted to vanish.

_"No! You can't go onii-chan!" Lucy practically shouted while tugging on Shirou's knee._

_"Now, now Lucy, Shirou onii-chan is busy, you can't disrupt him," Layla lectured her daughter._

_"No! Shirou nii-chan must stay!" Lucy tugged Shirou's knee even harder than before with tears threatening to fall at any time._

_Shirou kneeled before Lucy and put a hand on her hair, patting her head. "We'll meet again Lucy, I'm sure of it."_

_Lucy wiped her eyes and gave him the puppy dog look. "Really?"_

_Shirou smiled."Yes, I promise."_

_Lucy brought out her pinky finger towards Shirou."Pinky promise?"_

_Shirou brought his own pinky and connected his with hers."Pinky promise."_

_Layla saw the exchange and smiled at them._

_Shirou stood up and said his goodbyes to the mother and daughter pair._

_The last thing he heard from them was "Goodbye onii-chan! You better keep your promise!"_

Shirou had reached Fiore by now, after hours and hours of walking. It wouldn't do to run himself into exhaustion; he had to conserve whatever prana he had left in him. Not only that, he needed to ask for directions. About twelve hours had passed by now, and it was night time. The battle with the wyverns had not taken much from him, but he still had to conserve his prana reserves. He had almost reached Magnolia's neighboring town and he was sure he would be able to reach Magnolia by morning.

Unfortunately for Shirou, he would be busy tonight.

(At Oshibana Town)

Oshibana turned out to be a small, friendly town located near Onibus Town and Clover town. This small town was the second unofficial headquarters of the Eisenwald Guild. Eisenwald was a guild that specialized in assassinations. Most of its members did not really care about anything other than money though. If the town was attacked by things such as bandits, most of them wouldn't give a damn and would ask for some kind of huge payment from the civilians to save their asses. Yep, the members of Eisenwald acted like a bunch of pricks. The Magic Council had warned them to cease their assassination jobs and act like a normal guild, or they would be ousted from the Mage Guild League. This fact would be proven tonight during a bandit attack.

(Scene Change)

A group of bandits, consisting of about 3 dozen members were gathering in an abandoned building somewhere on the edge of Oshibana.

The bandits had decided to plunder the town. The leader of the bandit group stood at the center of the building. The lowlifes were either lying down, leaning on walls smoking, hitting each other in the faces, and other activities normally associated with their kind by the townfolk.

Their leader, standing at the center with his hands crossed announced,"Alright you bunch of good for nothings! We're gonna plunder the town and get some good load of greens ya hear me? We've got the top mages of Eisenwald backing us, Erigor the Shinigami (Death God) and Rayule! Let loose and plunder everything worth lots of jewels on sight!"

The bandits cheered and ran out towards the center of town. On the rooftop of the hideout stood Erigor with a scythe in his right hand, currently holding it across his back alongside his associate Rayule. Erigor was a fairly tall boy with silver hair, which was held pointing upwards in spiky strands on top of his head though it sometimes hung low down the left of his face in a distinctive tuft, sometimes partially covering it and reaching down to his shoulders. His eyes were dark, seemingly lacking eyebrows. He also had an elongated face with sharp features, and somewhat pointed ears. His eyes were circled by dark lines and each of them had a simple tattoo right below it, consisting of a pointed line going down vertically, crossed with two more, larger horizontal lines. The upper part of his body was similarly tattooed, but with much larger, intricate and blue-colored motifs which took on spiraling forms, and adorned his shoulders, biceps, pectorals and back. Erigor also wore a torn Japanese-like outfit befitting his role as the Shinigami. He did not wear any upper clothes, revealing his tattooed body as a result. Rayule was a tanned boy with a pointed nose and a sharp chin. He wore a distinctive jacket with a light color on the upper part and dark color on the lower part. His most unique feature was his hood covered in light and dark stripes.

"Hey Erigor, you think this is okay?" asked the tan boy.

Erigor clicked his tongue."Tch, as long as we receive the money it's fine. It's not like we're the one who're doing the plundering here. Just protect the bandits from any oncoming threats and we're done. I doubt there's anyone in this town that's much of a threat."

Oh how wrong he was.

(Scene Change)

Shirou had just arrived in Oshibana town late at night. His prana reserves were low; he knew that he must make haste to Magnolia. Though he didn't thought that the moment he arrived there would be more trouble such as bandits raiding the town. Yeah, he cursed his ungodly luck at times like this. Shirou took in the situation and decided that he needed to do this quickly. Screams of civilians asking for help echoed throughout the town. Shirou reverted to spirit form and attempted to detect the magic signatures. After a quick survey he concluded there were three dozen bandits and two Mages spread throughout the town.

Shirou entered a messy looking house, probably plundered by the bandits. He spotted two bandits cornering a woman with a child in her arms. Probably intending to do something unspeakable towards them. Something in Shirou ticked. Shirou was not someone who took lives unnecessarily. But what he cannot stand more than anything else were rapists. Shirou was originally planning to tie the bandits all up and look for whatever responsible authority was around to take care of them, but he changed his mind. Without another word, he traced a nameless blade on hand and swiftly stabbed the two in the head with simple thrusts. Shirou was not a person that resorted in torture. When he killed, he gave enemies swift and clean deaths.

"Are you alright?" Shirou asked the woman.

"Y-Yes, I'm alright…" said the woman weakly.

"Good, just stay there for a moment while I clean this town of its trash." Shirou reverted to spirit form and inflicted swift retribution on the rest of the bandits, sparing the leader for the moment. He had a special treatment just for him.

(A while later)

Shirou stood in the center of Oshibana, his right hand dragging the beaten figure that wore a sign saying 'I AM THE LEADER OF THE BANDITS' and tied him to a stake.

"Hey, hey, who's going to pay us now?" About ten meters behind Shirou stood Erigor and Rayule.

"I was wondering when you two will show up." Shirou turned to look behind him, eying the two young Mages.

Shirou chuckled."I didn't know that the bandits hired two young boys for protection. That's quite pathetic if you ask me."

Erigor eyed the man warily. This man before them killed all the bandits minus the leader in a matter of minutes.

'Some kind of teleportation magic?' Erigor pondered.

It should have been impossible to take out all of them that quickly. The bandits as per the plan were all separated into different locations.

"Either way, you kids should go back home. It's late at night." Shirou quipped.

"Shut the fuck up!" With that, Erigor rushed towards Shirou with his scythe on hand, increasing his speed by propelling himself forward with his Wind Magic. Shirou, though severely weakened from a lack of prana, was still a Servant. A Servant depending on his/her legend could move at a speed beyond the majority of humans. Thus, the severely weakened Shirou disappeared from Erigor's area of sight and reappeared behind him, elbowing the back of his neck and knocking him out instantly. Shirou caught the limp figure of Erigor and threw him towards Rayule as well as his scythe.

Shirou glared at the pharaoh-looking boy with an intimidating look on his face. "Take the boy and go home. If I find you doing this kind of thing again I might not show you mercy next time."

Rayale, only being fifteen years old, almost pissed his pants when he saw that nasty glare. The man didn't even use any kind of magic towards Erigor and knocked him out in a single move. What chance did he have? He took Erigor's unconscious body and his scythe and scrammed out of Oshibana Town.

Shirou's body felt heavy though, he quickly dashed to the town's exit. Unfortunately for him, by the time he had reached the exit of the town, his body went numb and his figure collapsed. Shirou, using the last of his strength, turned his body back and laid face up, looking up at the moon.

'Crap, this is it huh? I still have to fulfill my promise… Damnit…'

(Scene Change)

Makarov Dreyar had just finished meeting up at the Guild Masters meeting. He was about to go back to Magnolia Town when he heard that Oshibana Town was being raided by bandits. Makarov took the train and wished he was fast enough to make it to Oshibana. His worries were soon diminished, after he arrived at Oshibana, he heard from the civilians that the bandits were stopped by a mysterious man with white hair wearing red. The bandits were all dead, save the leader that was still tied up in the center of the town on a stake. Makarov went to search for the man, hoping that he would still be somewhere around the town. What he found though, surprised him.

Makarov saw a figure lying on the ground, looking up at the moon though his eyes were closed at the moment. The man looked exactly like the civilian described.

'Exotic look, tanned skin, white hair, wearing red... It's this person…' Makarov mentally thought.

The old Guild Master of Fairy Tail ran towards the unmoving man. Once he was closer to the young man, he asked him," Are you okay young man?"

Shirou snorted at that." I can hardly move my body; I'm dying right now actually."

He was right. Makarov could barely sense any magic from the man.

"And why are you still calm despite that?" The old man asked with his eyes narrowed.

"It's not the first time I've experienced death you know, although this time it's more peaceful." He truthfully answered.

Makarov, sensing no lie in his words asked the man, "Is there anything I can do to help you right now?"

"You want to help me? You would help a total stranger out of nowhere?" That was actually quite hypocritical for Shirou, since he always helped strangers without an ulterior motive.

"I know that you're the one who eradicated the bandits in this town. The civilians told me how a man in red and black with white hair appeared out of nowhere inside their houses and stores and eliminated the bandits in one fell swoop. I can tell that you have a kind heart young man. My Guild needs more people like you," Makarov explained to Shirou.

"And the name for that particular guild is…?"

"Fairy Tail," Makarov answered instantly.

Shirou's eyes widened. The old man standing beside him was Makarov Dreyar, the Guild Master of Fairy Tail that Zeref told him about.

"Are you sure? To help me, you need to make a contract with me. I'll need you to follow the procedure as I tell you to. I'll explain everything about this contract later on after this. Is that alright?"

Makarov nodded. Shirou told him to draw a summoning circle just like the one Shirou showed him on a piece of paper that he projected using what energy he had left.

'What kind of magic is that? That paper came out of nowhere…' Makarov pondered.

After Makarov drew the circle like the one on the paper, Shirou told Makarov to drag his body to the center of the circle. The last step of the procedure, he had Makarov recite the incantation of making a contract with a Servant.

"If Thou would obey this mind and wish,"

"I shall make an oath," Shirou followed.

"I am the one who shall become the virtue of the afterword,"

"I am the one who shall lay out the evil of the afterword," Shirou chanted.

"Thy body shall be under my command; my fate shall be determined by thee,"

"My body shall answer and I shall entrust my fate to thee." Shirou's body started glowing

"Come forth Guardian of Balance!"

With that final chant, Makarov felt pain on his left hand and felt his magic being drained by something. Shirou stood and knelt before Makarov, like a knight would to his king.

"Through this contract, I have come forth to serve. I ask of you, are you my master?"

Makarov blinked, not knowing what to answer. Shirou stood up and chuckled. "You don't have to answer that," He mused.

"Well, now that all those troublesome things are finished, will you join Fairy Tail?" Makarov asked with a cheerful expression.

"You don't need to ask you know. After making the contract, I am practically bound to you."

"No, I'm not asking you as whatever you thought of me as. I am asking you to join as a Guild Master and as a fellow Mage. Will you join Fairy Tail?"

Shirou closed his eyes and smiled."Yes, I wish to join Fairy Tail."

"Well, let's go back to our home then! Meet your new family," Makarov walked towards the exit, motioning Shirou to follow.

"Ah, you haven't told me your name yet. What's your name young man?"

"Emiya Shirou. You can call me Shirou. It is a pleasure to work alongside of you Master."

"Likewise," Makarov responded.

_END OF CHAPTER_

Author's note continued: Right, as you all can see, I've put Shirou in the timeline where the main events are still many years away from happening. I do not know if I should let Ur stay alive or not (Imagine Deliora vs Shirou... *shudders*), so I shall hear your opinions, should I let her live? Oh, and I chose to use Shirou as a Servant than he is as a human because his capabilities as a human is limited due to lack of prana.

**Thanks to Vandenbz for the excellent work in editing the first chapter!**

Anyway, review!


	2. The Servant's Duty

Author's notes: Right, I can't believe I finished this chapter. Anyway, I would like to point out a few important things before we start…

First off, I took a liberty of making Zeref somehow able to summon Shirou as a Servant. This is fanfiction, and I have considered all the options available on making Shirou summoned into Earthland somehow believe able. Servants are able to exist on the plane even without the Grail if supplied with enough prana, as shown with Saber on Unlimited Blades Work route's good ending…

Second, Shirou is a servant, and he will not age. Any kind of pairings can be done, although I'm not leaning to any of them yet.

Third, I'm still contemplating on whether I should let Ur live or not. Though right now I'm leaning towards letting her die, since one of my reviewers had a good point.

And to answer your questions:

Zaralann: No, I don't think he will. Maybe he will make a contract with Lucy in the future, but I haven't thought much of it. Having Shirou as a Servant will lessen her ability to summon her celestial spirits.

Anon: Erm… That's a rather hard question about Rin coming in the future as I'm not really sure if she could come into Earthland… (The best answer would be Zelretch, but that's a bit clichéd and if I'm going to make any pairings, it would be Shirou being oblivious with the girls' affection or catfights between the girls…

RoyalTwinFangs: Yes, he can. It would be pretty useless though, since anything that he projects will disappear in due time.

Urgh, I can't believe I wrote all of this while listening to this for 6 whole straight hours… AND I DIDN'T EVEN NOTICE! ( watch?v=02xyngkt5yc) South of Heaven – Emiya.

(I do not own Fate/Stay Night, nor do I own Fairy Tail)

Well then, enjoy…

**Edited by Vandenbz.**

[Chapter 2][The Servant's Duty]

Magnolia, a town located in the southeastern part of Fiore. Hargeon Town, one of Fiore's ports and also one of its most beautiful towns was located south of Magnolia. A series of minor built-up areas, namely Onibus, Kunugi, Oshibana, and Clover Town were also linked to it by a railway line that extended to the north and the state boundary, the nation of Bosco bordering Fiore's eastern flank. Right now, our hero and his Master were still waiting for the train to reach its destination. They took a train from Oshibana, travelled across Kunugi and Onibus, and are currently on their way to Magnolia Town.

(Inside the train)

Shirou was currently sitting on one of the train's seats beside his presently snoring Master, his head turned towards the open window of the train. His mind was currently thinking hard, contemplating his future options. This world was new to him after all, and despite all the information he gained from the summoning, he needed to plan out everything carefully. His thoughts were currently focused on Zeref, Fairy Tail, and the bandits that he encountered.

First of all, Zeref, the person that summoned him. Even when sealed, his magic power was huge. Shirou promised that he would save him on the day he was summoned. At that time, Shirou could not pinpoint the location of his ex-Master because some kind of barrier had disrupted his senses. Zeref had informed him that he was sealed on an island managed by Fairy Tail though, known to himself and the mages of Fairy Tail as Tenrou Island. Hence, that was one of the reasons Zeref had recommended Makarov as Shirou's new Master.

'Cursed to watch the destruction that he could not control for an eternity…'

No one deserved to have that kind of fate. Shirou vowed to save him no matter what. That was his entire reason for existence on his old and new world after all.

Secondly, Fairy Tail. Fairy Tail was considered as the strongest guild in Fiore, followed by Phantom Lord in an intense rivalry. Inside, Shirou was curious and a little nervous, albeit barely. What was it like to join a guild? Was it the same as the Mage's Association? He had been informed that a guild was an organization where Mages gathered. They took requests and missions from civilians in need of help. Shirou did not know much about Guilds and their inner workings. Shirou knew he'd have to keep his identity as a heroic spirit a secret; he wanted to avoid the countless questions that would most likely be directed to him if he failed. He acknowledged that his stay in the guild would most likely attract attention from its members eventually, maybe in a few years after he joined. As a heroic spirit that wass summoned in this world as a servant, his body could not age in any way, essentially defying the law of time. In other words, since he died at the age of 26, even after ten years his spiritual body would stay exactly the same before he died. This would surely be noticed after a couple of years, but it's not like telling his soon to be-Guild Members about servants and such was a bad thing. Unlike his original world, the Holy Grail War did not exist in any form in this new world. Actually, the main reason was that he did not want to freak them out. He'll tell them about himself in the future, not anytime soon though.

Lastly, the bandits he encountered just hours before. Frankly, he didn't think much of the bandits, rather the Magic World's system to keep the civilians safe. Shirou recalled that this world was mostly governed by the Magic Council, the ruling body of Earthland. The Council was seen as the body that kept the legal guilds in check, also being responsible for the punishment given to the Mages that broke the law. He also recalled that the Magic Council had a subdivision within it called the Rune Knights that acted as a personal constable of sort. In other words, they act as the Council's army.

What left a bitter taste on his mouth was that Shirou could not recall any division assigned to Oshibana Town. Even a small un-important town like that should have been sent a small division of knights to keep order from breaking apart. Even a small group of bandits consisting of 3 dozen could wreak havoc on the town. Either the Council was being too lenient or the Magic Council was flawed. If Shirou hadn't come sooner, the fate of the civilians would have been far worse. A single flaw in the Council could mean increasing death rates, something Shirou did not approve of. He would need to ask his Master for more detailed information.

A sound was heard inside the train, "The train has arrived in Magnolia Town. Passengers please exit through the left door when it opens, thank you."

'We seem to have arrived…' Shirou pondered.

Shirou nudged his still snoring master to wake him up. The balloon on his nose popped and he woke up with wide eyes and a gasp.

"—Hrnghhh, are we there yet?" Makarov yawned while wiping his sleepy eyes.

"—Yes, it seems that we have arrived," Shirou answered.

"Well, Shirou… What are you waiting for? Let's go." Makarov jumped down from his seat and walked out from the train with his hands crossed behind his back, followed by Shirou.

Shirou analyzed his surroundings. It was still 3 am in the morning, further evidence provided by the still darkened sky. Lamp after street lamp was spread around the whole town, brightening the streets in the early morning. The whole place was western in style, with the buildings reminding him of medieval designs that he read about from books during his high school years.

"The Guild is about 5 km north west from here. We'll get there in about 25 minutes tops." Makarov informed.

Shirou nodded. The two continued with their walk in the silent of the night.

(Scene Break)

Shirou stood outside the Fairy Tail Guild with his Master standing beside him. The guild turned out to be a triple layered building with a huge sign emblazoned with the words "Fairy Tail" on the top of the entrance.

"Welcome to our guild, Fairy Tail," The old Master welcomed Shirou with a sleepy smile.

The two went through the doors, but there was no one inside. Well, that was to be expected since a guild's members usually gathered in the morning until late at noon, the stragglers hanging around until late midnight before going home. The interior of the guild was mainly composed of wooden long tables and wooden benches, with a bar and a kitchen located at the back of a bar on the nearby wall. A request board where possible jobs and missions would be posted stood on the left side of the bar. The second floor was mainly the same in structure, only without the bar and kitchen. The S-class request board was located on far wall, adorned by velvet curtains with golden sashes.

"Everybody is probably still asleep; it's still half an hour before four after all. I think I could use some shut-eye as well. Shirou, there's a guest room located near the bar; you can use it for tonight." Makarov turned back to leave the guild lounge. "Oh, and we'll talk about the important stuff in the morning."

Shirou agreed. He could talk about the guild later after his Master gets some rest. He would tell his Master about the servant contract and everything about him when they are alone again. Though there was a very important matter for Shirou that he needed to discuss with his Master right now.

"Master, a moment please," Shirou asked with a serious tone.

Makarov turned back to see Shirou with a completely serious expression.

Shirou decided to ask him… no, he needed to ask him now.

Makarov narrowed his eyes. "What is it?"

"You wouldn't mind… If I use the kitchen… right…?" Shirou asked carefully and slowly.

Makarov blinked twice. He thought it would be something very serious when Shirou suddenly changed his expression like that. "Ah… sure, use it all you want," Makarov said with a small laugh.

"How many members do we have? When do they usually gather?" Shirou's expression got even more serious.

Makarov pondered a bit."Ermm… We have roughly around 90 members, give or take a few of them. We usually gather here in the morning at around seven," The old man said while rubbing his old chin.

Hearing this, Shirou grinned inwardly. "That will be all Master. Pardon me for taking your time." He turned back on the direction of his guest room and walked to it, leaving the 77 year old Guild Master in a state of confusion behind him.

(Scene Break)

Shirou took a look at the guest room that Master Makarov had appointed to him. It was nothing special, a small room with wooden floor, a desk with a studying lamp, and a normal sized bed with a window beside it. It's not like Servants could get tired or anything because of the prana supplied by his/her master. He wouldn't really need to sleep nor did he want to right now. Shirou would have to get a living place of his own, but that would have to wait. Right now, his only wish was to go straight to the kitchen and cook to his heart's content.

And so he did. He left the guest room and went straight to the kitchen behind the bar.

What he saw made his day. A large size kitchen with everything he needed and a fridge full of ingredients. It was official, from today onwards this place would be Shirou's happy place. He de-materialized his shroud, leaving his tanned, muscled arms exposed. On his hands, he traced two kitchen knives that he favored back at his home. He looked at the wall clock, exactly pointing to the number four. Cooking for 90 people within a time limit of 3 hours alone, sane chefs would think he was absolutely nuts! For a certain white haired man that once cooked for the whole cafeteria of the Clock Tower as a part time job during his time though, this was a challenge that he could not miss.

And it would be a morning to be remembered.

(3 hours later~~)

Macao Conbolt had just woken up in the early morning, and he was getting ready to go to the guild. He bid his wife farewell and went to work at a leisurely walk. Macao had spiky dark blue hair pointing upwards, linear dark eyebrows, dark eyes, and a prominent nose with a flat, rectangular front. After a short distance in his walk to the guild he encountered Wakaba Mine, his close friend and fellow mage of Fairy Tail. Wakabe himself had brown hair which was kept in a pompadour-style. He wore a pair of sunglasses, an orange shirt, followed by a light brown coat with an open collar. The two adults walked to the Fairy Tail Guild together… only to find the other members standing near the entrance of the Guild with their jaws on the ground and eyes opened so wide they looked like they will pop in a matter of seconds.

Seeing this, the two of them looked at each other and nodded their heads. They forced their way in through the slack-jawed and wide-eyed members… only for them to do the same.

In front of all of them, about ten meters away, sat a very long wooden table with what you can call a 'buffet' on it. The dishes included pancakes, assorted fruits, scrambled eggs, bacon, loaves of freshly baked bread, and other things you could find in a 4-star hotel breakfast lounge. Behind the bar, all of them could hear the sound of knives on a chopping board with the sound of a frying pan, accompanied by a cheerful whistle.

Macao snapped out of it and shook Wakaba to do the same. Then, both of them walked to the bar and peeked behind the kitchen's entrance. What they saw was a tanned white haired man wearing black attire, chopping lettuce at a speed that most being could only perceive as a blur, still whistling with a satisfied look on his face.

Wakaba whispered to Macao," Who the hell is that?"

"I don't know, I've never seen him before," Macao whispered back.

"Did Master hire a new chef?" Wakaba muttered.

"No, I didn't," said a voice from behind them.

Macao and Wakaba jumped back with an 'eep', startled from their Master's sudden appearance.

"That is our new family member, Shirou," explained Makarov.

Shirou, noticing his Master's presence stopped what he was doing. He went outside the kitchen and greeted his Master and fellow guild members.

"Ah, good morning Master. These two fellows are?"

"The two adults here are Wakaba Mine and Macao Conbolt," Makarov pointed his finger towards Wakaba, then Macao.

"Oh? Nice to meet you two." Shirou greeted the two with a smile.

"D-did you make all of this?" Macao pointed to the buffet behind them.

"Well, yeah," said Shirou with a curious look.

Macao and Wakaba's jaws hit the ground again. Makarov then said to Shirou," Don't you think this is a little too much Shirou?" The partially bald old man told him.

Makarov never thought he would get an answer like this, "Nonsense, there's no such thing as being cheap when it comes to ingredients to make a good meal."

"B-B-but our budget is limited due to the constant destruction caused by our guild…" He said with teary eyes. Honestly, the sight of an old man about to cry is supposed to be silly and ridiculous, yet Shirou found the sight a bit amusing.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I'll pay for all the ingredients that I used after I take a mission or two…" Shirou assured the old Master while tapping his old back. "By the way Master, aren't you going to introduce me to the rest of the guild?" He asked.

"Oh, that's right, I forgot!" The old Guild Master turned back to his old cheery self and somersaulted onto the bar's counter. "Listen up you young'uns! That man over there (Pointing to Shirou) is your new family member, Emiya Shirou. Shirou! Introduce yourself!"

Shirou walked to the center of the guild and introduced himself." Hello everyone, my name is Emiya Shirou. I look forward to working with all of you." Shirou smiled while tilting his head slightly.

The reactions were either "Kyaahhh!" from most of the girl members with hearts on their eyes and analyzing looks from most of the males.

"Well, enjoy your breakfast… one who does not have the stomach to digest breakfast is a failure as a fighter, don't you all know that?" With a grin on his face, Shirou turned his back and began to walk back to the kitchen.

(One short minute later~)

"T-This is…!"

"It feels like angels are gathering on my tongue, singing hallelujah!" One of the males commented.

"Did I see stars? It's not even noon yet!"

Most of the girls were in tears from admitting that their cooking skills did not match Shirou's.

Wakaba was in tears." If only my wife could cook like this…"

Macao's reaction was the same." We're in the same boat, bud…"

"Shirou! I don't care that you waste ingredients like this! I demand that you cook like this every morning!" the bald Guild Master said with a plate in his hands and drool dripping from his wide open mouth.

That morning was practically the best breakfast the Fairy Tail members had ever experienced.

(Moments after…)

After the heavenly breakfast that Shirou had prepared and Shirou miraculously cleaned all the dirty dishes, a sheer amount that one could not fathom its numbers on first sight in less than 30 minutes which led to the surprise of his fellow guild members again… Makarov motioned Shirou to sit on one of the bar counter's seat and began to explain the rules of Fairy Tail.

Firstly, about the mission and request board. Makarov told Shirou that he could take any missions and requests from the first floor, but he couldn't go upstairs to the second floor as it is only open to S-class Mages. It wasn't that Shirou could not handle any of the S ranked missions and requests; it was more to the point that the Master had no knowledge of Shirou's capabilities as a Mage and therefore could not allow him to do the hardest missions until Shirou proved that he had the ability to do so.

Secondly, Makarov explained to Shirou about the Guild Rank system. The ranks were divided into 3 categories; Guild Master, S-Class Mages, and Mages.

A Guild Master was the head of the guild that he was affiliated with; in the case Fairy Tail was Makarov Dreyar. Usually the Guild Master was considered to be the strongest Mage in his/her guild. Makarov himself was also one of the Ten Wizard Saints, individuals that were acknowledged as the ten most powerful and skilled Mages in the world. Shirou himself did not know about the Ten Wizard Saints prior to this conversation, but he mentally filed this information under subjects of future study. If Shirou had to fight one of them, they wouldn't go down without a good fight. He might even be hard-pressed against them. Anyway, back to the topic, a Guild Master had complete authority over their subordinates, and thus can dictate their actions.

Next were S-Class Mages. S-Class Mages were powerful Mages that are recognized by the Guild Master as being able to undertake S-Class Jobs. While the pay was the best, it was said that even the simplest of mistakes could possibly lead to death, and thus the members needed to have the Master's approval before they could even think of taking one of them. S-Class Mages were the top members of the Guild, in Fairy Tail's case they only had two S-Class Mages, namely Gildarts Clive and Ivan Dreyar.

The last in rank were regular Mages. They were simple users of Magic that could undertake Jobs but were not allowed any that were S-Class. They are, however, able to advance to the rank of S-Class Mage under certain conditions. Makarov told Shirou that they had a special tournament to decide whether a Mage was ready to be an S-Class.

After the Guild Ranks explanation, Makarov continued with his explanation on the Guild's rule for those who wants to leave Fairy Tail. It wasn't like Shirou would quit anytime soon, with Makarov being his Master and his promise with Zeref, he was technically bound to the Guild. Shirou decided to be a good member and listened to Makarov's explanation with his utmost attention.

Whenever a Mage intends to quit Fairy Tail, they are able to do so anytime they wanted as long as they followed three rules. First, you must never reveal any sensitive information about Fairy Tail to others for as long as you live. Second, you must never use former contacts through being a former member of the Guild for personal gain. Lastly, though our paths may have diverged, you must continue to live out your life with all your might, you must never consider your own life to be something insignificant, and you must never forget about your friends for as long as you live. That made Shirou ponder a little.

Being a Servant, he wouldn't last forever in this Guild. Servants were technically 'cloned' from their real selves in the Throne of Heroes. It was not guaranteed that he would remember all of them when he disappeared from this world. There were some rare cases where the original would remember what their 'cloned' selves experienced during their time in the world of the living, but in most cases the originals wouldn't retain the memories of their 'clones'. Shirou was not sure that he could follow the last rule, seeing as he had already 'died' in a way, but he remained silent regardless.

Makarov then told him the last and most important thing. In this Guild, or in any other, killing humans was frowned upon, no matter how much they may have deserved it or how much of a cruel person they were. Mages that killed were hunted down by the Magic Council, and Makarov, as much as he disliked the Council, agreed on that part. Makarov knew that Shirou killed almost all of the bandits back in Oshibana Town, but who could blame him? Technically Shirou hadn't known much about this world and he only knew the basics of it. Makarov himself knew that Shirou was new to this land, from wherever he came from in the past. Fortunately for Emiya Shirou, that particular incident in Oshibana Town was overlooked due to lack of clues and evidence.

Shirou's opinion on the Council changed a little. Flawed it may be, but its sense of justice was in the right place. This could only mean that Shirou needed to refrain using his abilities to kill his future opponents. It was alright though; Shirou knew he wasn't a blood thirsty maniac. He respected the value of life, and he did not end lives needlessly. He would have to reconsider his future actions. He would have to replace his 'kill' option with 'knock unconscious', using 'maim' and 'incapacitate' as a last resort.

Overall, his impression on the Guild was that it was nothing like the Mage's Association. The Mages here were very different from those affiliated with the Association. Much less sadistic, warm, and 'killing' was not approved. The Mage's Association would approve of 'killing' if such actions would somehow benefit it. Their relationships with other Magi were mostly disastrous, bordering to the use of assassinations and such. They would even massacre a hundred babies just to further improve their research for heaven's sake. This Guild was a much refreshing change for a third-rate Magus such as himself. Although a third-rate Magus that had reached the Throne of Heroes should have been impossible in such modern times, he had still managed to achieve such a thing.

The explanation of Makarov Dreyar ended shortly after that.

"So, do you understand all of it?" Makarov asked while seated on the bar counter cross-legged with his eyes closed.

Shirou nodded. "Perfect and clear, Master."

"Oh, right! I just remembered… where do you want your Guild emblem stamped on? Also state the color of your choosing…" The old Master said in a cheery voice.

Shirou pointed to his left shoulder as he pulled back his shirt."Right here, make it red if you please."

Makarov took a red Fairy Tail emblem stamp from his pocket and stamped the red emblem on Shirou's left shoulder.

"Well then, you should be able to take requests or missions now that you get all the rules. The request board is located over there (he pointed to the left side of the bar).

Well, it should be safe to take requests and missions since there is basically not much of a threat going on right now. There are no enemy Servants, no Holy Grail War. His Master was one of the Ten Wizard Saints, one of the most powerful Mages in this world. Leaving him for a day or two wouldn't hurt after all, he'd know if his Master was in trouble and would immediately rush on back to him. Taking requests and missions mean that more people would be happy, and more lives would be saved. The extra money from it wouldn't hurt, he could rent a room from an apartment and he could improve the kitchen in the Guild's lounge. Shirou wouldn't actually need a room; he was a Servant after all. Still, he was contemplating on hiding his identity for quite some time, so he needed to act human.

Shirou went to the request board, and looked over the missions available for him. Most of the requests were finding lost things, investigating mysterious incidences, getting rid of magical creatures' pests, and eradicating bandits or thieves. Now, Shirou wasn't a person that chose a request by comparing the rewards from accomplishing the missions. He chose a mission based on the threat levels it had to the civilians. He could care less about the rewards; that was just an extra bonus. For example, he would choose a mission that asked him to eradicate a wyvern's den rather than a gang of bandits, as the former possess a higher threat to the innocent. That did not mean he would ignore the other request about the bandits. To him, the more lives he saved, the better. And that led to the conclusion that he would finish his mission as fast as he could, using human means, which meant travelling by train and limiting his abilities as a heroic spirit.

Shirou followed his line of thinking and took the mission request for eradicating a horde of Vulcans located on the forest east from here. It seemed that the client of this mission was the head owner of a resort near Akane Beach, the Akane Resort.

"I'll be off then Master." Shirou walked towards the exit and waved his hand without looking back.

(Scene Change)

Shirou had reached the Akane Resort after about two hours of continuous walking. What he saw made his eye twitch. When he thought about a 'resort' he thought of a mansion of sorts. He had not expected to see a building the size of a giant castle.

'This is… one huge resort…'

He had heard that the Akane Resort was the most popular tourist spot in Fiore. Among its many attractions was the giant amusement park, the five-star hotel and the huge sandy beach adjacent to the sea. The hotel housed a casino in its basement where visitors could also enjoy themselves. If the Vulcans somehow managed to find their way to the resort, it would be disastrous.

In front the gate was a short, fat, man with a long mustache wearing a luxurious outfit. Shirou walked to the man and asked him," Excuse me sir, are you the owner of this resort?"

"Why, yes that would be me…" the man said elegantly.

Shirou took out the request paper and showed it to the man. "I'm here under the name of the Fairy Tail Guild, to eradicate the Vulcans."

"Well, show me your Guild emblem and we'll talk business…" the man informed.

Shirou de-materialized his red shroud and showed him his left shoulder, which bore the Fairy Tail emblem. "Is this sufficient?" He asked.

"Oh! Let me fill you in with the details of this mission…" The man clapped his hands happily and motioned Shirou to follow him inside. Shirou followed the man and ended up in his office.

(In the office)

The head of the resort took a seat and motioned Shirou to do the same, in which he refused and would prefer to stand during the briefing.

The man began explaining, "You see, those foul Vulcans somehow appeared out of nowhere in the forest east from here! They randomly attack tourists that enter what they perceive to be their territory, and most of the tourists especially the females are too scared to even come here! There are about a dozen of them in total. I don't care what you do, eliminate them or drive them away! Just don't let them hurt my tourists!" The man cried.

"That's enough information, I'll drive them out in a day… you have my word." Shirou turned his back to leave, only to be stopped.

"Wait, I heard that your Guild has a tendency to cause destruction during their missions… can I trust you on not doing any massive damage on the area?" The man suddenly turned serious.

Shirou blinked. It seems that his Master had not been exaggerating when he said their Guild was famous for their habit of causing unnecessary property damage.

"Of course, I am a new member of Fairy Tail, and I assure you no property damage will be done." Shirou brought a smile.

"I'll believe you, now please finish your job…"

(Scene Change)

Shirou walked into the forest and began searching for the Vulcans. The head of the resort had mentioned towards the end of their meeting that the Vulcans were anthropomorphic monsters and quite large in size.

After a few minutes of searching, he was ambushed by a large fist that impacted on the ground, an attack that his honed battle experiences caused his body to dodge so fast that most onlookers would believe the action to border on the precognitive. The beast retracted its fist and looked at Shirou. Shirou took the time to study the monster in front of him as well. It had a distinctive facial appearance, with large eyes that seemed to have no pupils, also possessing large arms and a muscular torso. It also had a pointed head, massive chin, and pointed ears. The hair on the arms formed some kind of hole-pattern. It had green fur along with a big long tail. Overall it was like a gorilla in appearance, only with a different fur color, different eyes, twice the size of a normal gorilla, and enhanced strength. That punch also had quite a lot of strength in it. The creature was known as a Gorian, a species of Vulcan.

"You…no…woman…" it said.

Shirou tilted its head in confusion.

"Me…no…like…man…"

"…Huh?" Shirou sweat dropped.

"Men…will…be…taken…over…"

The green beast put two fingers in his mouth and whistled. The whistle echoed through the whole forest, birds beginning to fly away from the forest. Large footsteps were heard coming in their way from every direction. Now, surrounding Shirou were twelve Forest Vulcans with huge smiles on their faces.

'Tch… Perverted and cowardly, huh…?' He clicked his tongue.

Shirou traced Kanshou in his left hand and Bakuya in his right hand. The two blades gleamed in the light of the day.

One by one, the Vulcans threw a barrage of punches at Shirou. Shirou evaded the barrage of blows, but was left with no time to counterattack. With a battle cry, one of the Vulcans lunged towards Shirou, enraged from the continuous evading. Shirou took advantage of this opportunity by delivering a big round house kick to the Vulcan's upper torso, sending it flying until the body impacted with a huge tree. A smoke puffed from the Vulcan's body and revealed the body of an unconscious man.

Seeing this, Shirou's eyes widened. It seemed that the Vulcans were regular humans taken over by some kind of magic. That meant he couldn't kill any of these monsters without the loss of those innocent lives. Knocking them out seems to change the monsters back into their human forms too. That led to the conclusion that he couldn't hurt them too badly, no maiming, and no slashes from sharp blades. Shirou then let the twin falchions fade from the realm of existence. He traced new weapons, two wooden swords with one in each hand. If he couldn't kill them, the best option would be to knock them out.

Shirou reinforced the wooden swords with enough prana so that the wooden blades would not break easily upon contact. The Vulcans, seeing one of their kinds beaten so easily, started to back off warily. Attacking all together wouldn't do, they needed a plan.

'Hmm~? Devising a plan? These things are smarter than I thought…' Shirou noted. That wouldn't do, he wouldn't give them enough time to think up a plan. In a blur of motion, Shirou was already behind one of the Vulcans, and with his wooden swords he hit the back of its neck. In a puff of smoke, another unconscious man appeared. Shirou closed in on two of the Vulcans and slashed his wooden swords into each of their collarbones. Normal humans would have died instantly, but they were Vulcans right now. Magical creatures had much stronger bodies compared to normal humans. The Vulcans began to panic; looks of fear began to form on their faces. Another Vulcan tried to smash Shirou with his clasped fists, only to miss with his hands stuck in the ground. Shirou kneed the Vulcan in the stomach, the latter knocked unconscious with its mouth open and eyes rolled back. In a matter of seconds, the Vulcan reverted back to human.

'Seven left…'

Two Vulcans rushed Shirou in a panic, hoping to overwhelm him. Shirou grinned, these things acted just like regular humans when panicking… which in this case was rushing to their impending defeat. With the Vulcans' fists up in the air like that, their torsos were open to attacks. With two swings of his reinforced wooden swords, both Vulcans were knocked out and flying into separate trees. The two wooden shattered; something which startled Shirou a little.

'These things sure have tough bodies…' A reinforced wooden sword should have had the same durability as steel alloy. To think that the creatures here have a body that durable… this world is full of surprises…'

The remaining 5 Vulcans attempted to retreat, only to have 20 blades impaling the ground surrounding them.

"Where do you think you're going?" Shirou said with a smile. A demonic smile that he learnt from Rin way back when he was still alive. If a smile could kill, this certainly would. The five Vulcans began to quiver in fear, and they used their last resort.

"…WAIT!" one of the Vulcans brought a hand in front of Shirou's face, motioning him to stop.

Shirou, not expecting this, stopped in his track. The Vulcan that motioned Shirou to stop looked back towards its other comrades, and nodded towards them. They nodded back.

The five Vulcans knew that they couldn't defeat the man before them. They knew that he outmatched them in every way possible. So they did the next best thing. They offered Shirou something very important for them so that he would let them escape. Something very important for the Vulcans, that without it, their lives would be incomplete. The Vulcan took something from its back and showed that certain something to Shirou.

That 'certain something' was…

A porn book that adorns a very naked female Mage in a seductive pose, carrying a sign "LIMITED EDITION" on the cover of the book.

Yeah, if he was a normal male Mage, he would have fallen for it. Unfortunately for the Vulcans, it served another purpose.

Tick marks appeared on Shirou's head, his demonic smile getting even wider followed with a black aura around him. The upper part of his face darkened. More blades rained down surrounding the Vulcans, making them trapped with Shirou. In Shirou's hands was the shinai known as Torashinai, a weapon that Fujimura Taiga had used on him countless times when they sparred back in the dojo. "Unforgiveable…" Shirou muttered. The shinai he held in both hands was covered in a dark aura.

Yeah, if anything, they only made Shirou angry. The Vulcans were up for a good beat down.

(Scene Change)

Dragging the twelve unconscious men back to the resort, Shirou went inside to report the outcome of the mission to his client. Well, when Shirou entered the man's office and informed him of the mission's success. The client was dead surprised, it had only been three hours, and usually a normal Mage would need a day to complete a mission like this, not counting travelling time. Gorians were known to be tough and ferocious monsters after all and there had been a good dozen of them confirmed. The head of the resort even sent his security forces to scout the forest, to ensure that the Gorians were gone for good.

(1 hour later~)

"By the Gods it's true…" He muttered. And the extra good news was that there was no excessive amount of property damage! A splintered tree or two does not really make much of a difference…

"Well, now that my job is done, I'll take my leave... oh, and please do me a favor and send these people to the hospital." Shirou turned his back to leave.

"Wait! Take this!" the man threw a pouch of jewels to Shirou, something that he caught with ease. Oh yeah, the reward for this mission had been seven hundred thousand jewels. He didn't even notice.

"You can't leave now! I demand that you enjoy our services as the best tourist spot in the whole of Fiore! You deserve it," The man said with a beaming smile.

"Well, while I appreciate the thought, I need to go back to the Guild…" Shirou refused with a nervous smile.

"Nonsense! Come on in girls!" With a snap from his fingers, three girls wearing a revealing black bunny girl outfit; complete with long ears and long spider stockings came in.

"Kyaaaaa! It's a hot man!" One of the girls jumped excitedly.

"Hey there hotshot, let's play…" A girl grabbed his right arm and shoved it between her breasts.

"Hey, not fair!" Another chimed in and grabbed his left arm.

Shirou began to sweat bullets. If this went on, he'd get dragged somewhere else. There was only one thing to do now, and that was…

Run away before it's too late!

Turning into his spirit form, he ran away from the resort as fast as he could.

The three girls and the head of the resort blinked. The man had disappeared out of nowhere, just like that.

"Aww, I hadn't even touched those perfect muscles yet…" One of the girls said dejectedly.

(Scene Break)

'Well, that went smoothly'

Shirou had just arrived back in Magnolia. Currently, it was about 8 pm at night. He made his way back into Fairy Tail and found the Guild empty, only seeing his Master sitting on the bar in a cross legged position with his eyes closed.

Shirou looked around then walked to his Master and asked, "Master? Where is everybody else?"

Makarov's eyes snapped open. "Oh, Shirou! You're back early. Usually it would take a day or two to finish a mission like what you took, ya know… I think that's a record…"

Shirou chuckled nervously." Well… where did everybody go?"

"Most of them are currently on their own missions or they've gone home I think… I'm about to go back as well…" He informed Shirou.

'Hmm… that means that right now is a good chance to tell my Master everything…' the line of thought passed his mind.

It was true, right now was the best time to tell Makarov everything about himself since he alone with his Master… minus everything about Zeref of course. He couldn't tell his Master about that, not yet.

"Master… we need to talk…"

Shirou walked to the bar and leaned his back on the counter.

"Hrrmmm?" Makarov turned his head towards Shirou.

"Are you not curious about the contract that we made yesterday?" asked Shirou.

"Nope, not really…" Makarov said in a childish voice.

Shirou sweatdropped. "Are… you serious?"

Makarov smiled at him. "Yep!"

Shirou chuckled before breaking into laughter. Once his laughter began to cease, Shirou looked towards Makarov. "You're an interesting Master, Master... never mind, I'll tell you all about it anyway," Shirou closed his eyes.

Makarov turned serious. "Shirou, everybody in this Guild has their own secrets. It's fine if you don't tell me or any of us about you and your past. In this Guild, we are family. I believe that you will tell all of us about you someday."

"Yes, I do plan to tell all of them about me someday, but not anytime soon. You, Master however, will eventually know all about me. I plan on keeping everything about me a secret until I'm ready to tell them."

Makarov nodded at that.

Shirou began his explanation.

"Well, to begin with, the contract that we made yesterday is the contract between a Master and a Servant." Shirou informed.

"A Master and a Servant? You mean like a noble and his/her butler or maid of sorts?"

"No, it doesn't work like that. A Servant you see is a spirit that is summoned into the world and is bound to a Master. In my case, since you are my Master, I am bound to you. As long as you exist and supply me with the necessary magic, I will remain in this world."

"Hmm? Are you saying that you are one of those celestial spirits?" The old Master narrowed his eyes.

Shirou rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. He wasn't really good at explaining things like this, Rin was much better in matters such as these. Should he tell Makarov that he is technically a dead man walking? Yeah, let's go with that.

"No, none of that. It seems that I've misinterpreted my explanation. Servants are legends of the past, present, and the future that are summoned into the present time through a certain summoning ritual. Supposedly, summoning even one of us is a miraculous occurrence, but somehow, I was able to be summoned into this world."

"Why would it be a miraculous occurrence?" Makarov curiously asked.

"Servants are Heroic Spirits. Heroic Spirits are beings that had accomplished great achievements in their lives in which after their respective deaths, become the object of worship and lore by humanity. It is said to be a miraculous occurrence because summoning one Heroic Spirit would need a hefty amount of magical power. I won't go into details on how I was summoned here, but somehow it happened." He finished.

Wait. After their respective deaths… that would mean…

Makarov's eyes widened.

"Yes, it would seem that you finally understand me, Master. I'm a Heroic Spirit, and I've left the world of living once. Does that change your opinion of me?" With an expressionless face, he asked.

Makarov closed his eyes. "No," He said with a calm tone.

Startled, Shirou's eyes snapped open.

"I do not care that you have died once before in your life. I do not care that you are a human of legend in the form of a spirit. I do not care that you've killed many lives before you came into this world. You are a member of Fairy Tail, a member that I consider to be one of my own children. I know that in your heart, you are a kind young man that appreciates lives just as I do. I know that you won't kill any more in this world, nor do you will put any members of the Guild in danger. I believe in you Shirou, that is all there is to it." Makarov beamed a huge smile at Shirou.

Shirou was speechless. He had never thought that he would get an answer like that. Shirou chuckled. "It seems that I've got the best Master in this land." Shirou showed a small smile.

"You betcha I am!" Makarov returned the smile with a huge grin on his face.

The explanation wasn't done though; he still needed to tell his Master about the Command Seals.

"I haven't finished my explanation Master. Now I'll tell you about the tattoo on the back of your left hand." Shirou pointed towards Makarov's left hand.

Makarov looked at the back of his hand." Oh this? I was wondering how it suddenly appeared out of nowhere like that. It won't go away no matter how much I wash it!" Makarov gave a comical look to Shirou.

That made Shirou laughs a little. "Well, it should be impossible. That tattoo on your left hand, the one divided into three sections, is called a Command Seal. It gives you complete authority over my actions. You can use it to give me a maximum of three absolute orders at the cost of one seal during each use. By absolute orders, I mean ANYTHING. The Command Seal can even bend the rules of the universe. If you are somehow in danger and I am not present, you can use a Command Seal to call me and I will be right beside you, no matter how far away I am from you Master."

Makarov was deep in thought, before he finally spoke.

"You can steal underwear worn by the top models from the Weekly Sorcerer Magazine too right?" Makarov asked with sparkles in his eyes, hoping he would say yes.

Shirou sweat dropped. "Y-Y-You wouldn't actually make me do that… do you…?" Shirou's smile twitched.

The only answer he gets was a hearty laugh from the old Master.

"One last thing before we part Master…" Shirou's tone turned serious again.

"Go on," continued Makarov.

"Now that you are my Master, you will occasionally dream about my past, the dream cycle as it is called. I'm telling you this now so that you won't be perplexed on what you will see. Well then, it's almost late, shall we call it a day?" He still needed to rent a room somewhere around the town. It wouldn't do him any good to stay in the Guild's guest room forever.

Makarov nodded in approval, and the two exited the Guild lounge.

(Scene Break)

It had been quite a long day for our favorite hero. If he were still alive, he would have gone straight to bed. Shirou had found a good apartment with a good rent of seventy thousand jewels a month. When he thought about it, it seemed that one jewel was equivalent to one yen in currency. The room was nice overall, complete with furniture, a comfy bed, a mini kitchen (something that made Shirou quite pleased), and a bathroom which wasn't something that he really needed. The window had a perfect view of the night sky, something that Shirou did appreciate. A Servant didn't have to rest, and he did want to do more missions as soon as possible. But he needed to act human, and regular Mages did not do requests 24 hours a day. Shirou walked towards the window and sat at the edge of it. His head facing towards the night sky, his gaze focused on the beauty of the moon and the night stars. He slowly fell into slumber.

That night, Makarov dreamed…

He dreamed of a huge fire.

He dreamt of a town filled with screams of pain and despair…

He dreamt of a boy that walked through all of them with lifeless eyes…

Countless bodies surrounded the boy, bodies that screamed for help, yet were denied of it

But the boy did not care, he kept on walking.

His body is covered with burns, his head is leaking blood, and his eyes are unfocused.

The boy knew, once he fell down, he could never get up.

And so he kept on walking.

Walking as the heat kept burning his flesh, marking them with countless burn marks…

A boy shouldn't be experiencing this; hell no one should ever experience that!

And finally, the boy falls…

He looked up on the sky, a sky that is filled with smoke and filled with screams…

His hearing is becoming dull, the screams and begging are becoming silent...

The boy knew that he will join them soon…

And then he saw the face of a man, smiling. The boy saw the smile and only one thing fills his mind.

He wished he could be as happy as that man…

Thus began the life of Emiya Shirou…

END OF CHAPTER

Author's note continued: Right, so next will be a time skip, and that will be the chapter of conclusion whether Ur lives or dies. It won't come out anytime soon. Family holiday urgh… It'll be around a week or two before I'm able to write again…

Right, now that all of that complicated things is done…

Review!

Oh, and thanks to Vandenbz for editing the chapter.


	3. S Class Magus?

Author's notes: Right, I did say that I won't be doing any writing for a week or two in my whole vacation. But due to the plot bunnies that can't seem to stop appearing in my head, I told this to myself,"Screw it, I'm going to write."

*clears throat* anyway, I'll explain a few important things before we start…

First, about this Servant! Shirou. This is the Shirou that I had predicted will become in post UBW True Route. I am sorry if I made him look OOC, but this is how I pictured him. Technically, this Shirou is Archer with less sarcastic remarks, much less bitter, still upholds his ideal of saving lives (Not the 'for 10 lives tp be saved, 1 must be sacrificed'. Rather, he will try his very best to save all of the innocent lives even if it is deemed as impossible), more compassionate, more open to others, still oblivious with girl's affections (Yeah, he's still oblivious to Rin's affections and all of the other girls that he had met, but that's just who he is right?). This Shirou is 26 years old when he died, he isn't as naïve to think that all lives in this world can be saved, and he is more mature than he is before the Holy Grail War… but he still has all of his other qualities. Shirou is familiar with killing and he will kill if he deems it as necessary, but will refrain from doing much in this world.

Second, about Ur… she will still use Iced Shell on Deliora, but I plan on letting her live… if you know what I mean...

Last thing, if you haven't watched Fairy Tail, you should, it's really good. The graphics are excellent and the comedy in the whole series is very entertaining. I won't even write this x-over if I haven't watched Fairy Tail. This whole idea came to me after I watched Fairy Tail after all, and I haven't even finished one third of the whole series! The whole idea came after this line of thought: "What will happen if Emiya Shirou is put in the series?"

So for those who haven't watched Fairy Tail, I suggest that you should. If any, the only thing that bothers me in the anime is that there is little to no blood shown, contrary from the manga itself.

Now, to answer your reviews…

**SeanHicks4: Yeah, I've read Gabriel blessing's work on In Flight and HoS, and enjoyed both of it. Though I've always felt that his characterization of Shirou is more to Archer than Shirou himself…**

**Anon: Yeah, I myself realised that my grammar is not perfect and my word choice is not that good, and for that I apologize. I've just recently started writing and I am still learning all I can by writing and reading more good fics. Hell, I'm still learning on how to write a good action scene. Bear with me here.**

**Anon: That was a minor mistake on my part; I'll fix the Kanshou and Bakuya part of the second chapter. Anyway, about the Servant part. I took a liberty on the part where Shirou is able to be summoned, but the part where he is able to be maintained in the world, it is possible even without the grail. 'While in normal cases Heroic Spirits simply disappear when they are no longer needed, Servants can remain in the world as long as they still have a valid contract with a Master that can supply him/her with enough prana.' This is informed in Type-Moon wikia itself. If somehow what you said is correct, just assume that it is one of the liberty I took in this x-over. This is after all, a fanfiction.**

**Anon: Shirou x Rin is my favourite pairing as well, Shirou x Saber being the second. There is a chance that Rin will show, I'm still drawing sketches on the route thisstory will take after all…**

**Anon: Yes, Rule Breaker can revert Ur back into her original form, but it will still divert canon a little.**

**Fangking2: Damn, I knew I missed something on the last part. Thanks for reminding…**

**Truth Timeheart: Gorians ARE Vulcans. They are a species of Vulcans that inhabits the forest part of Fiore, hence that is why I called them Gorians at the end.**

**SKYS: Thanks for the praise, as a new writer, that means a lot. Shirou IS epic, that's how I've always thought of him. He is rather badass in the VN… in the post UBW Route, he is bound to be even more badass in the future. Anyway, you should watch Fairy Tail. Even without Shirou, it is a good series.**

**NeilDingley: That's for me to know and for you to find out… **

**Shikyoseinen: well, that is probably because she will :D**

**RoyalTwinFangs: Shirou's magic does resemble Exquip Magic. This will be mentioned in this chapter. Oh, and he's the only self-controlled member of Fairy Tail.**

**Zaralann: And your wish has been granted… albeit in a different way than what you've expected…**

I've been doing some research on how to write good action scenes, but I'm kinda new at this, so if it's not up to your satisfaction, I apologize.

**(EDIT: Well, in UBW Route Shirou falls in love with Rin and went to the Clock Tower as Rin's apprentice. I was originally intending to modify it a little, namely not making Shirou and Rin a couple since he's too good hearted to take any other relationship with any other women even after his death. But, after thinking back again, I'll change it back so that he was a couple with Rin back when he's still alive, and somehow find a way to pair Shirou with Erza or any of the other girls, although I do somehow develop a sudden craving for a Shirou x Erza pairing...**

**Oh, and after thinking it all through, I decided that I'll need a Beta Reader to edit my work. So, If any wants to take the job, feel free to PM me and such. Nothing to serious, but I need a Beta that has mild knowledge on Type-Moon stuffs, read the FSN VN on the Unlimited Blades Work Route, watched/read the Fairy Tail Manga, and has the ability to fix/improve my work. In any case, I'm planning to write chapter 4 today and it won't come out in a few days.)**

Enjoy…

**(DO NOTE THAT THE CHAPTER HAS NOT BEEN BETAED YET, BUT I DID CHANGE THE BITS ABOUT THE FIGHT.)**

**Chapter 3**

X774, June 12th

Ten months had passed quickly for Emiya Shirou since the fateful day he was summoned into this world. He quickly became good friends with a huge portion of the members in Fairy Tail, and it felt good to have a family like this again. For the past ten months, he had practically cleaned all of the dangerous missions and requests located on the first floor, leaving some of the Guild members to be jobless for a day or two. Even so, none of the Guild members hold any grudge against the tanned white haired Magus. How can they? Shirou is the kindest and most helpful person they have ever met. Whenever he noticed any of the Guild members seemed to be in some kind of trouble, he would ask and try to solve it for them. Many of the members started to adore him; others began to see him as a rival of sort.

Presently, our hero is sitting near the bar counter and is sipping his coffee. It is one of his peaceful times where he can be at ease after the ridiculous amount of missions that he took.

"Yo, Shirou! Why so gloomy so early in the morning?" Wakaba and Macao walked to Shirou and put their arms around Shirou's neck.

And that peaceful time is instantly shattered…

"Well, that's probably because you two had to greet with those nasty smiles on your faces…" Shirou closed his eyes and slowly sipped the bitter and pungent liquid.

Macao Conbolt and Wakaba Mine had somehow become his best friends in Fairy Tail. He doesn't know why, but it's probably because of their relatively close age. He would accompany those two to drink at night, and he would be the one to carry the both of them to their respective home after they pass out from drinking too much. Seriously, having their wives apologizing to him is a little embarrassing… but those 2 are good friend nonetheless.

"How cold… anyway, look at this!" Wakaba waved a magazine in front of Shirou and his cup of coffee.

Shirou looked over the cup while still sipping his drink, before he spurted out his coffee in a comical manner. "What the… let me see that!" Shirou snatched away the magazine from Wakaba's hand.

The cover of the magazine has Shirou's image imbedded on it. On the cover, his red shroud is nowhere to be seen, leaving him only with his black armor and black pants. The Shirou on the cover had his giant black bow on his left hand and a short sword on his other hand, preparing to fire. The expression of this Shirou seems to be focused on a certain target…

'This magazine… the Weekly Sorcerer Magazine? I thought I refused those offers to appear on one of these things!'

How they get that image of him, he doesn't know, and probably never will. Shirou is rarely seen without his favoured red shroud, and he only took them off whenever he is cooking or when he's doing his archery sessions in the nearby forest.

Seeing Shirou's surprised expression, Macao and Wakaba's grin turned wider.

"Why don't you open and read the magazine Shirou? I bet you'll be even more surprised…" Macao looked over at Wakaba, who did the same to him, and both of them nod their heads at the same time in an agreement of something.

Shirou did as he was told. He opened it, and his surprised expression turned pale. On the very first page of the magazine is Shirou in his full attire, on his hands are Kanshou and Bakuya. Seriously, who the hell took a photo of him without him noticing?

'Emiya Shirou, a Mage of Fairy Tail that had completed countless missions and requests on record time, even though he is not an S-Class Mage. It is said that the magic he use is a kind of Requip magic, but it has not been confirmed even until now.' Shirou's eyes twitched once.

"Oh, you haven't seen this, it's a good one." Wakaba turned the magazine a couple of pages, before stopping onto one of the pages.

This page has Shirou carrying a little girl bridal style on mid-air with an explosion beneath them, making it a bit dramatic.

'This Mage had also been the main topic discussion of the Council. It seems that he is the only Mage in Fairy Tail that does not have the god of destruction following his back when doing his job. The civilians had repeatedly tried to express their gratefulness for his deeds by adding extra rewards after his the completion of his missions and requests, but surprisingly, he will always refuse their way of giving thanks and leave with the intended amount of reward given for the mission completion.' Shirou's eyes twitched twice. What it says is true; the clients will always try to give him additional rewards with the reasoning that he finished their requests without any unnecessary property damage and for completing it within less than a day. Most of the missions that he took are dangerous ones, those that include eradication of mountain bandits, Wyverns, Vulcans, and any other things that pose a threat to the civilians.

Well, the part where he's the only one in the Guild that does not have a habit of destroying their surroundings during their job period is technically true. From what Shirou could see so far, the Guild members has this strange habit on causing unnecessary casualties when doing their respective jobs… But he didn't know that ALL of them have that dangerous habit! Wait, that's not the important issue right now…

How in sweet Gaia's name did they take a photo of him without him even noticing one bit?

Macao turned the magazine to its last page. "And the grand finale…"

The last page also has Shirou's image imbedded on it. This Shirou is wearing his usual black armor… with a frilly apron that has the sign 'Kiss the Cook' with a big heart sign below the letters. He is seen stirring a pot of curry with a ladle on his right hand, while his left hand is holding a very small plate, probably to test the taste of the curry.

'What's most surprising about this unique black and red-clad Mage is that he is said to be a true master in the art of cooking! From what we heard from one of the Fairy Tail members, the taste of his cooking is simply divine at the very least. 'He can even create a feast worthy for the Gods' as one of them had said. For his exotic looks, his exceptional valor, and for his great qualities in doing housework, Emiya Shirou is considered as the "Most wanted Mage you want to have as a boyfriend or husband"'

…

…

…

Okay, this is getting too far. At least the photo of him in the kitchen is believe able… he's always oblivious to his surroundings when he's busy focusing on his culinary expertise. But really, 'most wanted Mage you want to have as a boyfriend or husband'? Well, sure he had been in a relationship once with Rin before his death, and he had loved her dearly. He can't betray the love that he once harbored for her, it just doesn't feel right. But seriously, why pick him as someone that you would want to have a relationship with? He isn't anything special, saving people and making them happy is more like a duty than a job for him, and his exotic looks aren't that much worthy of attention... or so he thought.

Shirou stood up from his seat. "I think I'll go out for some fresh air…" He slowly walked to the exit. What he saw on the entrance of Fairy Tail make his already pale expression turned into that of pure horror. What he saw is a mob of young girls and women… all of them carrying hearts on their eyes.

"It's Shirou-sama! He's looking at me… kyaaaahh!" One of the girls squealed.

"Take me Shirou-sama!"

"He's not looking at you whore! He's definitely looking at me! Ohohohoho…"

Seriously, he wished that he can just pass out right now. Unfortunately for our hero, as a Servant that option is pretty much impossible.

Why would they want to be his girlfriend/wife when he can just teach them how to cook? Are they that desperate to get better in cooking just because a man can best them in it and any other housework?

Yeah, those are the thought that is occurring in his mind right now. His obliviousness to girl's affections seemed to have evolved into a whole different level entirely after he died. Rin is a special case, she and Shirou was a couple before he died, but even she had trouble for her partner's superior obliviousness. Shirou swore to himself. If he ever finds out whoever took those pictures of him without his permission, he will shove Gae Bolg up from their rectum straight to the heart. Nah, he wouldn't do that… maybe.

_(Back in the Guild)_

Macao and Wakaba are laughing their ass off, rolling on the wooden floor gasping for air. Once their laughter had ceased, both of them stood up and cleaned the dusts on their pants.

"Man… that's just rich. Who knew messing with our new friend is so much fun?" Wakaba said as he tried to hold back another laugh from his mouth.

"I told you didn't I? Messing with Shirou is just too much fun!" Macao took out what seems to be a Magic Camera from his pocket.

"He can't even notice any of the girls' affections for him… lucky bastard…" Anime tears began to flow down his face.

"I feel your pain…" Macao tapped Wakaba's shoulder with the attempt to comfort him.

_(Somewhere else…)_

"Mama! Look, look! Shirou onii-chan is on this magazine!" little Lucy Heartfilia ran to her mother waving a magazine at her.

"Hmm? Let me take a look…" Layla took the magazine from her daughter's hand and began reading the contents.

"Oh, Shirou-kun seemed to have joined Fairy Tail… isn't that the Guild that you wanted to join one day Lucy?" Layla asked her daughter with a smile on her face. She kneeled to meet her daughter in the face and put a hand on her head.

"Uhmm! I will join Fairy Tail when I grow up and become a great Mage like Shirou onii-chan!" Lucy nodded her head a couple of times with her hands up on the air.

Layla give her daughter another smile. "Go back to your studying room now… if you want to be as great as him one day, you need to study more so that you can become a great Mage!"

"Okay!" Lucy hugged her mother before running back on the opposite direction of her mother.

Once Lucy is out of sight, Layla put a hand on her cheeks and chuckled a little. "Oh my, Lucy seemed to be fixated on you Shirou-kun…"

_(Scene Break)_

"We have reached Magnolia, passengers please exit through the left door…"

A young looking boy with spiky black-colored hair walked down from the train's platform. This boy is Gray Fullbuster, an 8 year old boy that had survived the destruction that the demon Deliora had wrought. Ur had sacrificed her life to salvage him before he falls too far into the darkness…

Now he will follow her advice on finding stronger wizards on the West Continent… and become stronger so that no one else important to him will be hurt because of his weakness. And now, he is currently on his way to Fairy Tail, the Guild that is considered as the strongest in Fiore.

_(Scene Change)_

Today isn't a good day for Shirou. First, there isn't any mission of great importance available for him to take for the day. Second, women are chasing him from all over the town… just because they can't cook as well as him! The worst thing of all is that he hasn't entered the kitchen for a whole week! With all the missions coming on the request board for the last few months, his time in the kitchen is drastically decreased.

Okay, let's see what Shirou had done for the last 10 months of his stay.

He had completed various missions and requests on the first floor, and almost wiped clean the request board. The reward money that he got from the missions are used to pay his rent, to further improve the kitchen in his apartment and Guild lounge, and to accommodate for the damage that the Guild members had done during their respective missions. Really, the damage they did took out most of their own pay, sometimes their completion of mission doesn't even cover for the damage they had done. Since Shirou is being the generous person he is, he would use some of his pay to cover for the damage the Guild had done which is more than enough to cover all of them, much to Makarov and the Council's delight. Shirou is practically the reason why the Council hadn't sent their Rune Knights to Fairy Tail for the last 10 months. Completing hundreds of missions per month will leave anyone's pocket full of money. If Rin had realised that Shirou is the richest person in the Guild, she would probably force Shirou with her on a jewellery store, 'for the sake of modern Magecraft' and Shirou wouldn't be able to refuse, lest he face the wrath of a fully evolved tsundere.

Shirou had met Laxus Dreyar, the grandson of his Master. He is a 13 year old boy with his blonde hair slicked back, numerous spiky strands pointing backwards, though some of it falls down on his forehead. He has a distinctive lightning bolt-shaped scar on his right eye and much like his grandfather; he sports dark lines circling his eyes, with each of them possessing a single, prominent eyelash jutting outwards. He is always seen wearing his signature "Sound Pod", which is a model of Magic Headphones. Like his grandfather, Laxus is a kind young boy that wishes nothing but the best for Fairy Tail. Shirou had interacted with him a few times now and then and the boy had told him that he respected Shirou for his continuous support for Fairy Tail.

Then there's Iwan Dreyar, the son of his Master and Laxus Dreyar. Shirou can't believe he's Makarov's son and Laxus's father, not only their hair color is vastly different, their attitudes are the complete opposite. Where Makarov and his grandson are kind and caring, Iwan Dreyar is cruel and Shirou could swear he sometimes act like an insane man. The man has black hair and tanned skin, and sports a very unique looking beard. He wears an ornate cloak along with a dress shirt and an ascot tied in a full Windsor knot. Shirou would sometimes ask his Master how someone like him, even if he is his Master's son, got to be an S-Class Mage. It's ridiculous to Shirou to say the least.

The last person that piqued his attention is Cana Alberona. Cana is a young 8 years old girl that is dedicated on her work. Actually, she works so hard it made Shirou thinks she wanted to be an S-Class Mage at the fresh age of 8, which deems to be impossible given to the rivalry in Fairy Tail. She has long black wavy hair that is tied into a pony tail and black eyes that matched her hair. Shirou would often see her alone on one of the tables with her tarot cards on it. There are times when Shirou is back from his missions late at night and she would sometimes still be there. Of course, he would use those times to converse with the young girl. She and Shirou had somehow developed a somewhat close friendship with each other. Often times he would tell her how his work goes and she would listen and sometimes ask questions about his missions. Speaking about Cana, here she is right now.

"Shirou, what are you doing hiding in a dark alley?" Cana stood on the entrance of the alley, eying Shirou who is standing close beside her, but both are separated by the shadow of the alley.

Shirou put his forefinger in front of his mouth and motioned her to come closer. Cana did as she was told, before Shirou pulled her and put a hand to cover her mouth. Shirou instantly hide behind a big, rectangular garbage can.

"I think he went this way, let's go girls!"

Thunderous footsteps are heard passing the two Mage. After a few seconds, the footsteps become faint until it disappeared completely.

A sweat trailed down Shirou's face. He peeked through the entrance of the alley and found it completely empty. He sighed in relieve.

"Umphhh…umppphhhh!" muffled sounds ringed through the dark alley. Shirou quickly let go of his hand to let Cana breath.

Cana gasped for air, panting heavily. "Y-You… tell me… when you're… about to do that…"

Shirou rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and apologised to the young girl. "Sorry Cana, I can't let those women find me… I have a feeling that something incredibly bad will happen once they caught up with me."

Shirou clapped both of his hands and bowed his head. "I'll make it up to you someday; just don't tell them about my whereabouts, okay?"

Well, Shirou is a good friend of her, so why not. "Okay… but you better make it up to me one day!"

"Yup, I promise…" Shirou gave Cana a small smile and a nod.

"Let's go back to the Guild now shall we? Do you want to be carried by me?" Shirou asked the young Mage.

"N-N-No! I'm not a little girl anymore Shirou, I can walk myself just fine!" Cana huffed her chest in annoyance.

Shirou gave the girl an amused smile. "Suit yourself then."

The two began to walk back towards the Guild.

_(Scene Change)_

"Fairy Tail… Fairy Tail… where are you..." Gray muttered to no one in particular. He is currently wandering around the town in the hope of somehow stumbling upon the Guild. Unfortunately, he had no such luck. The best way to find it would be to ask someone in this town. Strangely, he had not seen anyone for the past 10 minutes.

'Oh well, walking for a little longer wouldn't hurt' Gray noted to himself.

After a few seconds of walking, he saw a tall, tan white-haired man with black and red attire walking beside a young girl around his age with black wavy hair that is tied into a pony tail. He should probably ask them for directions.

Gray ran towards the two. "Hey, mister!"

Shirou, having heard the yell stopped walking and turned his head. Cana also stopped walking to observe the situation. A young boy with spiky black hair is running towards his and Cana's direction before stopping.

"Hey mister, do you know where the Fairy Tail Guild is? I can't seem to find it…" Gray asked while wiping a bit of sweat on his forehead.

"Hmm~? We're about to go there ourselves… do you want to tag along too boy?" Shirou asked the boy.

"Uh, sure…" Gray began to walk with the duo.

After a while of walking, Shirou broke the silence. "Do you have any particular business in Fairy Tail, boy?"

Gray turned his attention to the man walking beside him. "Yeah, I plan to join Fairy Tail…"

"Oh? Then we'll be Guild mates in the future then…" Shirou looked at Gray and gave him a smile.

Gray, not expecting to meet members of Fairy Tail on his way there is a bit surprised. He raised his eyebrow. "You're a member of Fairy Tail?" He asked the man beside him.

Shirou nodded his head in confirmation. "My name is Emiya Shirou, and the girl beside me is Cana Alberona… nice to meet you Gray." He gave Gray a welcoming smile.

Cana looked over at Gray and gave him a nod before turning her attention back to walking.

"Gray Fullbuster… nice to meet you too…" Gray said before focusing his attention back to walking.

"Oh, and Gray… why are you stripping on the middle of the street?" Shirou sweat dropped at his new Guild mate's antic.

…

…

…

"Bwahahahahahahahaa!" Cana rolled on the ground laughing while clutching her stomach.

Gray looked down on his body and became wide eyed and jumped comically from self-surprise. "Gah! How the fuck am I always doing this?"

Shirou smacked Gray lightly on the head. "First off, put on some clothes. Second, refrain from using that kind of language around me. Cana, you'll get stomach cramps from laughing too much." Gray glared at Shirou, which the latter easily ignores. After Cana ceased her laughter, the three of them continued their walk to the Guild.

_(Scene Break)_

Gray, Shirou, and Cana entered Fairy Tail and were greeted by Makarov. "Yo Shirou, Cana! Who's the little boy beside you two?" Makarov lifted a hand to greet the three of them while still sitting cross legged on the bar counter with his staff on his other hand.

"Ah, master. This is Gray Fullbuster. He wishes to join Fairy Tail."Shirou introduced Gray and walked to his Master with Cana and Gray behind his back.

Makarov raised his eyebrow. "Hmm… I see, I see… well, that will have to wait Shirou… I have something important to announce right now!" Makarov stood up and the whole Guild fell silent.

Gray and Cana, not expecting this kind of development focused their attention on the old Guild Master. Shirou is also curious, what would lead his Master to delay the recruitment of a new member?

"… I have decided, Shirou will be taking the S-Class Mage Promotion Trial…"

That announcement made the whole Guild Members wide eyed from surprise. Usually for a member to be able take the S-Class Mage Promotion Trial it would take years to be considered as qualified by the Master himself. Well, considering Shirou's splendid job for the last ten months, it shouldn't have been much of a surprise that he is qualified to take the exam. But the Exam is usually held every one year, and it hasn't even been a whole year yet…

"Supposedly, I considered on letting him take the exam several months ago…but due to the lack of a certain individual I can't give him the Exam. His exam wouldn't be the same as the one that we always take every year. I've reached the conclusion… that he will need to fight Gildarts to pass the Exam!" Makarov crossed his arms and closed his eyes.

Macao upon hearing this slammed the wooden table before him and stood up. "Master! Making Shirou fight Gildarts is too much! Gildarts are known to obliterate his foes!"

Wakaba also stood up from his seat and object his master's decision. "I agree Master. Sure, we haven't really seen what Shirou's really capable off, but Gildarts aren't known for holding back when he's fighting his opponents."

The old Guild Master raised a hand to stop the two Mages from talking any further. He understood, those two are worried about their new friend and his safety. But Makarov had seen what Shirou is really capable of doing, with the dream cycles and all. "I understand that all of you are worried about Shirou, but I know how powerful Shirou is. He is more than capable of being an S-Class Mage right off the bat, but rules are rules. Gildarts will be back by today, and the Exam will commence moments after he came back!" Makarov concluded.

Just when one of the Guild members attempted to protest against Makarov's decision again, Shirou stopped them with a look and a shook of his head. Really, Shirou is fine being a regular Mage for another year or two, but by advancing as an S-Class Mage he could take S-Class missions and requests, and as a man that holds up to his ideals, this would mean a chance to save even more lives!

Gildarts Clive, he's the other S-Class Mage of Fairy Tail other than Iwan Dreyar. He is also considered as the Ace member of Fairy Tail. For the past ten months, Shirou had not seen him even once. His Master had said that Gildarts is prone to leaving the Guild for a long time before coming back to the Guild months after he left. Shirou does not know much about him, but he is said to be unbelievably powerful. Now Shirou isn't a psychotic battle hungry maniac, but he does enjoy a good fight once in a while. He had been holding back too much in this world. Maybe he could let loose a little… it's not like the Mages in this world are weak, heck no. Regular Mages here can jump up to 20 feet up in the air quite easily. Their bodies are quite resilient and their strength exceed from regular humans. That doesn't mean that they can match a Servant, nah they'll get killed in a matter of seconds by the Servants. From what Shirou can see, the top ranked Mages in this world are comparable to the high tier Magus in his homeland, excluding Zelretch, the Blue, and many-many others. It isn't really fair to compare his world's Magus and this world's Mage, mainly because how this world's mechanics works differently than his world's mechanics, especially in magical power. Imagine if his world works just like this one, Magecraft won't need the use of prana, but they only need mana for its execution. In short, it's overkill.

DING! DONG! DING! DONG!

A loud sound of a huge bell rang throughout the whole town.

"He's back, Gildarts back!" A male member of Fairy Tail rushed into the Guild lounge and informed all of them. The whole Guild erupted into murmurs and loud conversations.

Shirou walked to his Master and leaned in to his Master's ear, whispering something. "Master, how do they know that Gildarts is back in Magnolia?" He asked curiously.

Makarov turned his head on Shirou's direction and informed him, "You see, Shirou, Gildarts is deeply respected by the whole Magnolia Town. He has this tendency to break through walls with his Magic in order to pass, rather than simply using the door, something which prompted the inhabitants of Magnolia to create the town's rearranging process. So in order to prevent that from happening, when Gildarts arrived in Magnolia, the huge bell tower on the centre of the town will be the perfect alarm to announce Gildarts arrival…"

Shirou became wide eyed at this. "Wait, rearrange the town? What does that mean?"

"Go outside and you'll get your answer…" Makarov pointed to the exit.

Shirou did as he was told, followed by the still shocked Cana and Gray. What they saw, in Shirou's point of view, is utterly ridiculous. On Gray's part, he's shocked how the arrival of someone can create a ruckus in an entire town.

The entire town is moving, or 'being arranged' for a lack of better word. The town that is initially divided by a river is moving in a weird pattern, until the whole town is divided into two congruent parts, with a narrow pathway being formed on the middle of the town. The pathway has red arrows on it that lead straight to Fairy Tail. On the other end of the pathway walked a muscular man in his early 30s. He has shoulder-length reddish orange hair, which is kept slicked back, and some stubble around his mouth and on his chin. His attire is vastly different from the other members of the Guild like Shirou's. He wore a dark, tattered cape over his bare chest, with a high collar and armored plates on the shoulders, held closed by a belt and usually covering his whole figure, and loose dark pants, complete with an armored waist-guard with plates similar to the ones on his shoulders, tucked inside simple boots.

The man kept walking until he reached Fairy Tail's entrance. He entered the guild and was greeted by Makarov with a hand raised. "Yo, good job on completing your mission, Gildarts."

"Yo, Master. Who's the newcomer beside you?" Gildarts looked over at Shirou's directions.

"Ah, this is Emiya Shirou, a member that had joined ten months ago. I think he joined a week before you left. The boy beside Cana is our new recruit, but he will be joining later. I need you to fight Shirou here for his S-Class Examination." Makarov said as he pointed to Shirou, then to Gray.

"Ah! He's the super rookie that you had told me about months before… are you sure he's up for it?" Gildarts asked the old Master.

"I am completely sure that Shirou is more than ready to take the Exam. During his whole stay in the Guild, he had practically wiped clean the requests and missions on the first floor. If he advanced to S-Class, he'll be able to take higher level of missions…" He explained to Gildarts.

"I see…" Gildarts rubbed his chin for a couple of seconds, before walking towards Shirou. "My name is Gildarts Clive, it is nice to meet you Shirou…" He lends out a hand to Shirou for a handshake.

Shirou returned the handshake with his right arm. "Likewise." Shirou and Gildarts stared at each other on the eye for a couple of seconds before letting go of the handshake.

"You have strong eyes Shirou…" Gildarts commented.

"I can say the same to you. Those are the eyes of someone that had experienced many battles before…"

Gildarts let out a laugh and tapped Shirou's left shoulder a couple of times. "You're one interesting person Shirou… I'll wait for you at the back of the Guild… wouldn't want to cause any unnecessary damage wouldn't we?" He turned his back and left.

Cana walked to Shirou and tugged his red shroud behind his waist. "Ne, Shirou… are you really gonna fight him?" Cana said with a mildly sad expression on her face.

"Hmm? Well, yes… if I'm going to be an S-Class Mage I need to fight him. Is there any problem Cana?" asked Shirou, a little worried at Cana's sudden change of expression.

"No… everything's fine…" Cana looked down for a while, before being back to her usual self. "Well, Shirou… you shouldn't let him waiting! Go back there and finish the Exam!"

Shirou nodded in approval and left for the exit.

Cana nudged the still bewildered Gray with her elbow. "Well? Are you going to stand there all day or are you going to watch the match?"

"Ah! Uhh… yeah, I'll watch the match…" The two kids left for the exit.

_(Scene Break)_

Standing on the open field that is located right behind Fairy Tail are Shirou and Gildarts, both a few meters away from each other. Surrounding the two are Makarov and members of the Guild that came to watch the match.

"Are you ready Shirou?" Gildarts' expression is unreadable.

"Yeah… let's do this." Shirou closed his eyes, seemingly focused to something.

'Trace on…' He muttered to himself.

On Shirou's hands is his favourite pair of black and white Chinese falchion. The sharpness of the blade gleamed with the light of the day, making it look dangerous and deathly. He's not aiming to kill, this is more like a friendly spar.

Gildarts slightly raised his eyebrow. 'That's…'

"ARE BOTH FIGHTERS READY? WELL THEN…" Makarov raised his hand.

A gust of wind blew on the field, making Gildart's tattered cape and Shirou's red shroud flutter slightly. Both fighters bent their knees slightly, ready to charge.

"BEGIN!" he lifted his hands down, signing the beginning of the match.

Gildarts immediately charged to Shirou with his fists ready. Shirou took the defensive to study Gildarts' capabilities. A right jab, a left uppercut, an overhead kick. Shirou tilted his head slightly to dodge the right jab, ducked backwards when his face is inches from Gildart's fist, and parried the overhead kick with Kanshou and Bakuya crossed together. The blow is quite hard, the ground beneath Shirou cracked slightly from the sheer force.

The two kept being like that for a while, where Gildarts would give numerous blows of punches and kicks while Shirou would either dodge or parry the attack with his blades causing sparks to fly. Shirou knew however, that Gildarts is holding back. This isn't the first time Shirou fought a hand to hand combat master. The Enforcers back at the Magi Association has lots of them, and he would spar with them once in a while. Gildarts' hand to hand combat is somewhat on par with the members of the Enforcers.

If his conceptualization on the basic framework of his swords is weak like in the Fifth Holy Grail War, Kanshou and Bakuya would have already shattered right about now. Now isn't the case, after years and years of training and now that he's a Heroic Spirit, his swords are much more stable and firm, making it much harder to break even without reinforcement. Then something weird happened. Just when Gildarts' fist met his Kanshou, a white-net like pattern appeared right between his white blade and Gildarts' fist. Shirou quickly let go of Kanshou and dashed to the right, completely avoiding the white-net from whatever it is about to do to him. His Kanshou, however, received a different fate. The net pattern passed through the blade and…

It dissolved back into prana?

'…Disassembly Magic.' Shirou noted, looking on the same place Kanshou had disappeared from existence.

Disassembly Magic, a Magic which allows the user to separate their targets into many parts. That is why Shirou's Kanshou disappeared from existence, since it is composed of prana, it dissolved into the air. Shirou doesn't know what will happen if a human or a spirit like him got hit by that Magic, and hopefully, he doesn't have to know. The thing about this Magic is that even the toughest defence and the most destructive Magic can crumble when faced with this Magic. Shirou knew that he still have something up on his sleeve.

"Just as I've thought…" Gildarts voice echoed on the open field.

Shirou raised an eyebrow at this.

"That magic of yours… it's not Requip Magic isn't it? Those swords of yours are made from your own magic power. Even the way they're projected are different. Not to mention that your swords appeared much faster than any Requip Mages I've ever seen..."

"Yes, that is correct. I do not use Requip Magic for my swords. Rather I created these blades." Shirou re-traced Kanshou and prepared another stance.

"Hoo~? You do know that my Disassembly Magic can dissolve any of those swords that you can create back into its original state, right?"

Shirou snorted at that. He jumped to the rooftop of Fairy Tail within seconds, leaving the other members flabbergasted and Gildarts to raise his eyebrow in curiosity. Shirou traced his giant black bow on his left hand and a nameless blade on his other hand. He aimed at Gildart's direction.

Gildarts raised his palm on Shirou's direction, preparing to use his Disassembly Magic in case Shirou fired his bow. He never did.

Gildarts felt something pass through him. He became wide eyed, as a few meters behind him lies a blade, impaled into the ground. The polished steel reflected the bright sunlight. The viewers also became wide eyed. Who would use a sword as an arrow?

It was fast, too fast.

"…You said that any projectiles made from magic will be useless against you… but what if the projectile is too fast for you to react accordingly?" He jumped off the roof until he's a few meters away from Gildarts again, his face supporting a little smirk. If he's going to enjoy this fight, a long ranged combat wouldn't do. He preferred a good melee to melee combat with the S-Class Mage. If he used his Disassembly Magic, he could always just trace a new pair of swords. The Magic wouldn't be fast enough to hit him.

Gildarts' surprised expression slowly turned into a chuckle. "Hehe… hahahaha… Master did tell me to not hold back against you. I can even see that you're holding back just like me, Shirou. What do you say we stop holding back and let loose for a while? I'm not really good at holding back just so that you know…"

"Yes… let's." His expression turned serious.

Pure, magic power on the form of white aura began to emit from Gildarts' body, enveloping him in it. The other members with the exception of Shirou and Makarov began to tremble in fear from the magic power that he's releasing. Shirou who remained unflinching de-traced his bow and re-traced his Kanshou and Bakuya.

Gildarts ran 10 step and meet Shirou with a huge blow on the chest, which is quickly blocked with Shirou's twin blades. The force is strong enough to push Shirou back a couple of meters, but it's not over yet. Before Shirou could blink, Gildarts is already above him, attempting on giving him a powerful overhead kick. With a red blur, Shirou moved so fast that it seemed like he disappeared and re-appeared behind Gildarts, his Kanshou and Bakuya ready to strike down Gildarts in an X motioned slash.

With a turn of his body, he created a barrier using his Crash Magic to stop the blades from implanting its sharp edge on his armor and pushed Shirou back to the ground. The very moment Gildarts and Shirou's feet had touched the ground, an enormous white light blasted from Gildart's hand and blasted towards Shirou's direction. Not expecting this, Shirou jumped back 20 feet on the air and landed a couple of meters from where he was before. The ground where he stood before he had jumped is in craters, a deep 6 feet crater he might add.

Crash Magic, an extremely powerful Caster-Type Magic utilized by Gildarts Clive. It is said that no other Mage are capable of executing this Magic, due to the fact that it is very hard to control. If the person is unfocused, he/she may unintentionally destroy objects such as houses unintentionally.

The two are locked in the clash for a couple of minutes; the viewers are in awe at the high level battle in front of them. Where Gildarts would use his Crash Magic to send a destructive blow to Shirou and he will instantly dodge it or Gildarts would use his fists like before. Shirou would strike Gildarts with Kanshou and Bakuya, sending many swings and slashes, only to be blocked by his left hand gauntlet or his Crash barrier. On the viewer's point of view, Shirou is moving too fast that it's hard to follow his movements. Even Gildarts is having a hard time with Shirou's agile and amazingly fast speed. Where Kanshou and Bakuya would broke after a few contacts with Gildarts' barrier he would re-trace within less than a second, and overwhelm Gildarts with his swords again. This is the best fight that Shirou is able to experience for the last 10 months; he wouldn't let it end that easily.

'…to be able to withstood attacks from a Servant like this is no easy feat. This man is something else… but I'll end this fight.'

Shirou jumped back several meters away from Gildarts. Gildarts, not expecting Shirou to back away, stood still with an eyebrow raised.

"Tell me, Gildarts... that left arm and left leg of yours..." Shirou started as he pointed to the S-Ranked Mage's left arm. "Isn't real right?"

The question surprised the audience and Gildarts himself. It was true, his left arm and leg had been lost from a certain accident in his mission. Not many of the Guild members had known this fact though, that was the reason they are stormed by that fact right now.

"...You can tell, huh?" his bewildered look is soon replaced by amusement. "What about it?" he was curious to the fact that Shirou was asking him such a meaningless question at this point of time.

"No, I just hope that you won't mind..." Shirou continued softly. "To replace that prosthetic arm and leg of yours after I sever them..." Of course, that was the only way that he could make the S-Ranked Mage to concede defeat, without hurting him too much.

Hearing this, Gildarts became more wary of the red knight standing a few meters in front of him as he prepared himself to intercept the knight's next assault. Replacing his left arm and leg would be a drag... and losing would be an even more pain in the ass.

"I am the bone of my sword…" Shirou murmured softly. Somehow, that particular sentence seemed to ring onto everyone's head, Gildarts included. A breeze picked up on the field.

Shirou traced another pair of Kanshou and Bakuya. Gildarts, who is curious on what the man before him is about to do only stood still.

Without another word, Shirou flung Kanshou and Bakuya outwards, causing the blades to be launched outwards, going sideways.

Gildarts raised his eyebrow, before giving a yelp of surprise. "What the-?" He sprung his body backwards to avoid the blades that is curving through the air which struck the exact place where he had been standing before.

That is the special property of Kanshou and Bakuya, the twin identical blades crafted by a blacksmith team of husband and wife in ancient china. The two blades are practically attracted to each other like the opposite side of a magnet. Even after the blades missed the target, the pull they had to each other will brought them together again. The blades spun wildly to arc backwards again. The path of the circulating blades cannot change except for each sword's opposite attraction.

No doubt that this made Gildarts and the viewers speechless. There are no such swords in this world that is capable of doing that.

"Steel is my body, and fire is my blood."

He traced another pair of the identical blades. He flung both of them just like before. With now four of the identical blades spinning wildly on the air, their travelling path will become much wilder and unpredictable. Gildarts is trying hard to avoid the pairs of blades while trying to dissolve them with his Disassembly Magic. Quite hard mind you, those blades are travelling like a horde of mosquitos. That was the only momentum Shirou needed.

He traced the last pair of Kanshou and Bakuya and charged at the still bewildered Gildarts. He whispered softly, "Spirit and technique, flawless and firm. Strength that pierce the mountains. Sword that split the river. Fame reaching the imperial villa. We cannot embrace heaven together..." Shirou crossed the blades behind his back, flooding them with Od, thus breaking them in the process. The blades expanded to twice its size and feather like splinters covers the blade from the ridge to the edge, making it looked like he had grown a pair of black and white wings.

Gildarts, who had been focusing his attention to Shirou and the four flying swords, widened his eyes. 'Shit! There's only one option left…'

The S-Class Mage created an invisible barrier around him with his two hands, attempting to block Shirou's attack while deflecting the still flying pairs of swords.

Well, he got one of his wish fulfilled. The four blades strucked the invisible barrier and after a hail of sparks and a few seconds of resistence, the blades vanished. The last one… errr… not so much.

"Crane Wing Three Realm!" Shirou roared as he slashed the barrier with all his might, the wing-like blades ready to discerp the fake body parts of the Ace member of Fairy Tail.

The broken Kanshou and Bakuya strucked the barrier, the blades began to emit lots of sparks from the resistance. Gildarts gritted his teeth hard, this is the first time a Mage is able to overpower his defenses. It took all of his concentration to keep the barrier from breaking, and his barrier IS slowly cracking apart. Well, that is until the pair of blades detonated and pushed the two fighters away meters away.

The whole crowd is flabbergasted. First, Shirou had used a sword for an arrow. Second, he had fought Gildarts on equal standing so far. Third, his last pair of swords looked like a freaking pair of wings! Finally, he's able to break Gildarts defenses completely… and he doesn't even look a little bit of being exhausted...

'Scary…' every one of them thought at the same time.

Gray's reactions is a bit different though. "This is… a Mage of Fairy Tail…" He murmured softly to himself.

Cana herself is dead surprised. She knew that Shirou's strong from all of those stories that he had told her, but not so strong that he's on par with Gildarts… if not stronger.

Makarov strucked his wooden staff on the ground, signalling the end of the match. "That's enough… I have decided…"

"From now on, Shirou is considered as an S-Class Mage of Fairy Tail! Give applause to the both of them!" He declared proudly with a beaming smile on his old face.

The crowd cheered and gave Shirou a big applause… in which he ignored due to his wide shock.

"Y-You stopped Crane Wing Three Chains... without so much of a scratch…" Shirou pointed towards Gildarts, seemingly accusing him of doing something impossible.

Gildarts did the same to Shirou. "Y-You broke my whole defenses… without being visibly exhausted…"

"You're... good..." complimented the Crash Magic user.

Crossing his arms,the red knight huffed and gave the man an appraising smile. "I can say the same to you."

"Tell me Shirou, how did you do it?" Gildarts put his good arm around Shirou's neck while walking back to the Guild.

"Well, I strengthened my blades to the point that it would overload, causing it to... ... ..." His explanation became dim as he walked farther away from the flabbergasted crowd. It seems that Shirou and Gildarts will be quite the best of friends starting today.

_(Scene Break)_

"Fight me." Gray is standing in front of Shirou, blocking the latter from exiting the Guild. It's already mid- afternoon, and most of the Guild members are either on their missions or gone home. The only ones present in the Guild is Cana, who is doing what she always did, sitting on a wooden long chair with her tarot cards on the table, Makarov who is snoring on the bar counter, Gray, and Shirou. Shirou was about to call it a day before being halted by Gray.

"Why would you want to fight me, Gray?" honestly curious, he asked the boy.

"So that I can become stronger…" the boy answered.

Now this piqued Shirou's interest. "And for what reason do you want to become stronger, Gray?"

"Will you listen to my story for a while?"

Shirou raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "Sure, I have all day."

_(Scene Break)_

And so, Gray told Shirou all about him, about Lyon, about his teacher, and about Deliora. He told Shirou on how his whole village was destroyed, how he was so fixated on killing Deliora, how he ignored his teacher's warning on not confronting Deliora, how his act of ignorance had sealed Ur's fate, how Lyon had blamed himself on Ur's death, and how he blamed himself for causing that incident.

Shirou gritted his teeth hard and clenched his fists tight, enough to draw blood. A demon that had brought chaos and destruction on the Northern Continent, Deliora. Why isn't Fiore informed of this? And what is the Council doing, letting a demon capable of massacre loose on the North Continent? Are they too afraid to confront the demon itself? What about the lives of the civilians? Thousands and thousands of lives are lost! He's furious at the Council but most of all, he's furious to himself. The demon had killed thousands, and he wasn't able to save them. But what's done is done, there's no changing the past…

Shirou calmed himself down and tapped Gray on the head softly. This boy… he's the same as him. No amnesia included of course.

"I'll fight you anytime you want… if I have some free time of course. It's already late, why don't you go home and maybe we'll do it tomorrow?" Shirou stood up from his seat.

"Cana… aren't you going to go back home as well?" Shirou questioned the girl. It seems that she had been listening to Gray's story the entire time.

"Ah… yeah sure Shirou… I'll go in a minute…"

Shirou walked out from the Guild, leaving the 2 kids alone.

_(Late at night…)_

"Ah, you're here Shirou…" Makarov took a swig of his beer before wiping his mouth with his hands. His cheeks are sporting a small hue of red due to the alcohol. He is currently sitting cross legged on the balustrade of Fairy Tail's balcony. Not many in Fairy Tail had used this place, but Makarov and Shirou would use it every now and then for night viewing.

"Master, don't drink too much… It's bad for your health…" Shirou walked in the balcony himself and sat on the balustrade, right beside his Master.

"Ohohoho… nonsense Shirou! I'm sill as healthy as I was 50 years ago!" He took another swig.

Shirou sighed. There's no stopping his Master when he's like this. Shirou focused his attention on the beauty of the night. Makarov himself is busy admiring its beauty. The two watched in silence, before Makarov broke it.

"You know Shirou… in the past ten months; I had many of this 'dream cycles' about you…" The old Master closed his eyes.

"And how much have you seen during the last 10 months, Master…?" Shirou crossed his arms and closed his eyes, seemingly deep in thought.

"Everything." Shirou received his answer instantly.

Shirou snapped his eyes open, his expression turning into surprise. Everything? The dream cycles shouldn't have been showing that fast!

"…You're serious about this?" Shirou asked his Master, being unsure himself.

His Master turned his head to Shirou's direction, his eyes looking on Shirou's grey eyes. "Yes, everything. Since the day you've got adopted until the day you had died sacrificing yourself for the sake of saving thousands of lives…"

…

…

An eerie silence followed the two. Shirou turned his gaze to the moon, and then sighed to himself.

"I see, Master… do yo-" Shirou turned his head back to his Master, only to see that his Master is crying anime tears with a runny nose.

Makarov tried to wipe his tears with his arm, but to no avail his tears aren't running dry. "H-Have I mentioned t-that's the m-most b-b-beautiful thing I h-have ever seen?" Makarov said while still crying and sobbing.

Really, Shirou's Master is one hell of an interesting person. Shirou himself chuckled at his Master's antics.

After Makarov stopped crying, his expression turned very serious. "Shirou… the wish to make everyone happy is not a mere fairy tale. What your counterpart had said… I believe that it is not true. Somehow, I know that it can happen…"

Shirou looked at his Master and nodded in approval. "You're right Master. I may have failed once in my homeland, but maybe in this world… I can make that wish come true…" He gave his Master a smile and turned his gaze back on the stars.

"In Fairy Tail…"

...

...

...

"But still, you sure did those two girls hard back then, ne?" A trail of blood dripped down Makarov's nose, his cheeks red. He could remember it like it was yesterday...

...

"W-What? You saw that too?" A blush appeared on Shirou's cheeks, albeit barely visible.

He got a laugh from his Master. "Sure did, Shirou! If only I was 50 years younger..." A sigh escaped his mouth.

"Master, from now on, I forbid you from remembering nor telling that certain incident to anyone." A dark aura enveloped his whole body.

"Eh? But that's impossible!"

"Well... it seems that the Guild doesn't really need my help for the damage they cause on daily basis anymore..." Shirou shrugged with an evil smile on his face.

"Fine... and the twin-tailed girl is quite cute too... you don't see a tsundere everyday you know..." He muttered in a small voice, playing with his forefingers.

"Master...!" the dark aura grew bigger.

"Oh, alright!" Makarov's tears won't stop flowing down until the next morning.

What a weird pair of Master and Servant...

'Wait... what's a tsundere...?' A question mark popped on his head.

**END OF CHAPTER**

Author's note continued: Well, next chapter will be the first meeting of Shirou and Erza Scarlet. It's another timeskip… and the chapter will be out after I beat down all the stress that's currently building up in me. Urgh, well then…

Review!

Oh, and if you missed it, look at the author's note above, at the very bottom.


	4. Sword Meets Sword User

Author's note: Well, here is the 4th chapter that I promised. Damn all that stress that's ruining my writing mood, its driving me lazy. Anyway, I was somehow unsatisfied with my work on the first till third chapter, and I will take my time editing them… at least until I find myself a Beta… if there is any willing, you can PM me. This chapter is a bit shorter than the last few ones… but I think it's better than the first-third chapter. Oh, and I would like to announce something important.

First, if any of you thought that the characters here are OOC, that would be because the main cast of FT is still on their early years, and Shirou is already above his 20s… it's a given that their personalities aren't what you quite expecting… (Well, at least not yet for the FT cast…) I aim to give this fic the Fairy Tail feel in it, not much to grimdark…

Second, about the… errr… pairings. Most of you are probably expecting a Shirou x Rin, Shirou x Harem, or Shirou x Erza, or maybe no pairings whatsoever. I haven't really decided yet, and so, I'll create a poll to HELP me think it over. The end result won't be definite; the pole is just to help me decide. If you want, you can go to my profile and vote… but if you're too lazy, then feel free to ignore this. Though somehow a Shirou x Erza image kept coming in my head… (Both of them in Unlimited Blades Work, their bodies standing back to back, Shirou with Kanshou & Bakuya and Erza in her Flame Empress Armor and her red sword implanted on the dry wasteland with both of her hands on the hilt… uh, ignore this.)

Oh, and the last one. Most of you are probably thinking that the last fight in chapter 3 is a blatant 'copy' of Gabriel blessing… but I didn't actually mean to make it the same. It's probably because I kept reading HoS again and again that the fight implanted itself on my mind, thus I write it similar unincidentally… don't believe me if you don't want to, I don't care.

Lastly, I've reached episode 98 in Fairy Tail… and it was pure hilarious mixed with awesomeness. Ichiya with his 'Men!' and Hoteye with his 'Desu-ne? or Desu-yo…' not to mention the Fairy Tail Race… somehow I imagine Shirou in shooting swords at the participants from a cliff… (Imagine him laughing maniacally while saying, "Drown in my swords and die!", but that's probably impossible since he's not that kind of person… unless he snapped. Or somehow Gilgamesh is back from the ToH...)

Then, I'll answer some of your reviews…

**Ruvian: Shirou calling Zeref Master when they meet… that's a maybe. The pairings, yeah, pedo is the inside joke of this fic. And about Rin, that still haven't crossed my mind yet.**

**Anon: That's because he is holding back. You don't aim to kill/hurt too much in a spar you know…**

**Anon(a simple fool): That's not really decided yet, and don't get me wrong, I like Rin, but I'm still thinking how the story will go with her in it.**

**Zer0light: Yep, I'm considering it right now.**

**GanHunter: 'The Harem Must Be Fed'… wow, that's a good quote.**

**Kagami Kamiya: Uhh, yeah… I fixed that part…**

**Anon: A Gary Stu? Oh boy, I'll get the bunkers ready just in case…**

Oh, and if you didn't notice, I changed the part where Shirou is Rin's lover in the third chapter. Enjoy the story~

**Chapter 4**

X776 March 23th

"Hiiiiiiiii…! M-Monster!" A figure crumpled down as his worn out sword fell to the ground with a clatter. Surrounding the figure are the unconscious form of his subordinates, all knocked out with swirls on their eyes. What used to be the interior of a Guild was wrecked into disorder, chairs broken into splinters, tables split into two, cracks on the walls, and holes on the wooden floor. The man tried to crawl away from the monstrous red-knight standing tall in front of him, but a sword impaled itself behind the man's back, preventing him to escape any further.

"Do you see how futile it was to resist? I told you I won't hurt the lot of you if you co-operate peacefully and hand yourselves in, but you had to be stubborn and swarmed me with numbers. Well, it won't make any difference now; I'll drag your whole Guild Members to the nearest garrison for your Guild capture." The red-knight sighed dejectedly as he took the man by his collar with his left hand and swiftly punched the man on his lower abdomen, knocking him unconscious. The man on his hand is the Guild Master of the Dark Guild, Cursed Falchions. They aren't anything noteworthy as they are just like any other branched Dark Guild in Earthland; greedy, pathetic, and pitiful. The man in red wouldn't kill them though as he holds a promise in this world: to never kill unless absolutely necessary. The Council will start hunting him if he does, his Master would be upset with him, and he believes that even members of a Dark Guild deserves another chance in life. Rather than a promise, that's what he always does in his entire life, unless the opposite side does or tried something he deemed as inhumanely immoral that proves to be a harm to innocent lives, he would kill… that's a given.

That is why Emiya Shirou, the Ace Member of Fairy Tail other than Gildarts Clive, took his time dragging the members of the Cursed Falchions that is tied together with a very durable chain to the nearest town garrison, where the Rune Knights in this area are deployed. He would occasionally postpone doing the missions and requests in Fairy Tail once he found out the exact location of a Dark Guild or two. Basically, a Dark Guild is a Guild that is no longer or never was recognized by the Magic Council and is treated as a criminal organization. Really, if the Guild is considered as a Dark Guild just because the Council does not approve of them, he wouldn't have done anything! But unfortunately, they really do act like a bunch of criminals.

"Ah, Shirou-dono! For what reason have you come to our fort?" One of the Rune Knights guarding the gate approached him with a welcoming smile plastered on his face. The name 'Emiya Shirou' had spread itself throughout the whole Magic Council and its knights as someone that delivers justice to the Dark Guilds and criminals everywhere, in which the former began to favor him and the latter to respect the red-clad Third-rate Magus.

"These people behind my back are the members of the Dark Guild Cursed Falchions that I caught a while back. Would you mind putting them behind the bars for me?" Shirou pointed with his thumb behind his back, gesturing the knight to take care of them.

The knight officer nodded and took the chains connecting from Shirou's hand to the tied-up members and had a hard time yanking them inside. Other knights ran to their direction to help the poor knight carry the heavy baggage to their cells.

Shirou, seeing that his job is done, left and headed to the nearest market. They say that today's shipment on the market has some unique ingredient that he has yet to discover. He would be damned if he went back to Fairy Tail without checking out what it is.

_(Scene Break)_

_(Somewhere in Hargeon Town~~)_

Shirou sighed in disappointment, turns out that the 'unique ingredient' he had yet to discover is a false rumor. Well, it isn't a total lost. He can check out the nearby restaurants and 'improve' their recipes to his liking. That's what he would do whenever he stumbled upon a famous restaurant that is famed for their specialty. Maybe that is counted as 'stealing', but it's not his fault that their secrets are so easy to unveil… and they didn't even put much thought in perfecting them… something that is unforgiveable in the world of cooking. At least that's what he thinks.

Oh well, it's almost nightfall, the restaurants are probably closing anyway, so he'll do that sometime later. He had heard from that the night view on a shore east from Hargeon's port is astounding; maybe he should give it a try.

Shirou walked himself to the shore and arrived after ten minutes of continuous walking. It was a satisfying sight for him, and it was definitely worthwhile coming here. The gentle sound of the waves washed over him as he admired the beauty of the bright full moon. Just like in his homeland, this world had a magnificent night view. It was a habit that he had caught from when he was small, he would do this often with his surrogate father, Kiritsugu Emiya… and this particular habit would follow whenever he felt peaceful.

His trance however, is shattered as he heard a small groan somewhere close to him. He shifted his gaze and looked around to sense the source of the groan, before he saw a small figure lying unconscious on the soft sand, its figure being slowly washed by the waves. Shirou quickly ran to the figure and his eye caught on a small girl with red hair and white eye-patch on her right eye. He lifted the girl with one hand and the other to check her pulse.

'Good, she's still alive…'

The girl is not in a life threatening condition, and she had most likely ended up on this shore after her boat was crashed by the raging waves somewhere. She wore a battered one piece clothing that's most probably caused by a very harsh treatment. Shirou didn't need to think on where the girl came from or what happened to the girl, he just knew that he needed to help the girl. So, he did the first thing that came to mind. He brought the girl on his arms and went to his apartment.

"_I now began to understand what was driving them…" A blue-haired boy with a weird tattoo on his right eye slowly walked towards the shocked red-haired girl all the while ripping the rest of his prisoner clothing. "They were trying to revive the legendary Zeref throughout this whole thing." His face is venomous with wickedness visible on his eyes, what used to be a kind, warm hearted boy is changed into what he shouldn't have become._

_Trembling behind a huge crystal lacrima is a weirdly masked man with a blue cloak on his back. The man fears his life as the boy that he and another cult member had tortured will undeniably kill them without mercy._

"_But they're nothing but pitiable believers who cannot feel his existence." The blue haired boy, Jellal, slowly walked to the shaking figure, his eyes dilated and his face full of sickly satisfaction from the fear he was causing. He grabbed the man by his throat and declared, "This tower is now mine. I will finish it and bring Zeref back to life." The boy laughed in a sickly tone, and a dark light began to emit under his feet. The man he once held by his throat was thrown to all directions with an invisible force, before he was smashed into the roof with a crash, creating small rubbles and killing the poor cultist instantly._

"_Magic?" she exclaimed the question in shock and bewilderment. She didn't know that Jellal himself is able to use Magic, but what shocked the living hell out of her is his sickly behavior._

"_Hiiii…!" Erza shiften her attention to her left and saw the other cultist trying to make his escape._

"_Help me!" the fat cultist screamed pathetically as he ran to the exit, only to be crashed on the nearby wall by the same invisible force that had killed his cultist partner._

"_S-Stop, Jellal!" Erza pleaded her friend with worry clearly visible on her face._

"_Stop?" he shot out his arm to finish the struggling figure of the cultist, before Erza herself caught the hand in the attempt to stop her friend's unusual antics. Sure, they were slaved for years, but that does not justify the act of killing a life. Her grandpa Rob had told her that all life in this world is precious, that is why she is against her friend's current actions._

"_You don't hate these people, Erza?" he asked his longtime friend while the fat cultist tried to crawl away from the monsters behind him._

"_I do, but this isn't…!"_

"_No! You'll never be able to feel Zeref like that!" Jellal released her grip from his arm. He shot his arm again and a dark light once again began to emit from where he is standing._

"_S-Stop..!" His plead for mercy is for deaf ears as the cultist began to expand like a balloon before exploding into dust, leaving nothing but tattered remains of his clothes which is also disappearing in a slow pace into white dust._

_Erza put her hands to her mouth at the inhumane sight before her very eyes. This isn't Jellal, he would never do something like this. Yet, the person behind her is indeed Jellal. His looks, the tattoo, everything is the same beside his behavior._

_She turned behind to see Jellal laughing like a maniac. "Jellal! What happened to you?"_

_The boy ceased his laughter and relaxed his pose. "Nothing…"_

_He walked out from the room with Erza following him out to the hallway or what used to be a hallway. "Erza…"_

_The two continued walking on the pile of debris that's used to be a hallway before Jellal stopped and hanged his head down. "Let us complete the R-System…no, the Tower of Heaven…together…"_

"_Huh?" Not expecting him to ask something like this, she only looked at what used to be her friend with a bewildered look._

"_And then we will revive Zeref!" the boy declared, his face still covered by his blue-hair, hiding his expression completely._

"_Don't be stupid! We have to leave this island!" she hastily informed the boy._

_The boy turned his head to look at the girl, his right eye began to glow a sickly red. Erza is suddenly thrown by an invisible force, her small body crashed into the mine where she had started the prisoners rebellion. A large crashing sound ensued the whole mine as her body landed on the dirt with a huge thud._

_The dusts cleared up and unravel the small girl's figure as she struggled to stand; her face holds a betrayed look. She looked up to where she had once been and saw Jellal looking down at her with a venomous smile._

"_If you want to leave that badly, then you can leave this island on your own." He informed the scarlet-haired girl with a scorn._

"…_On my own?" the girl asked in disbelief. She doesn't want to leave alone; she wanted everyone to be free, including Jellal and her friends._

"…_I'm going to keep the rest. I need workers to build the tower, after all. Don't worry. I'm not like them. I'll feed and clothe everyone, and let them rest. Ruling with force and fear does breed hatred, but it also causes terrible work efficiency." The boy explained to the girl with an insane look plastered on his once kind and warm face._

"_What are you saying? Everyone's on the boat already! They're waiting for us! There's no way they'd com backto work here now!" Erza cried out to the boy with an incredulous look._

"_That's where the others failed. They didn't give purpose to this work. I'm going to give them a purpose. I'm going to ask them to work for the great wizard known as Zeref."_

_Standing her ground, Erza barked out. "No one would willingly become a sacrifice!"_

"_Sacrifice? That isn't what is needed now. Zeref taught me that." He lifted his head up._

_With tears welling on her remaining left eye, she pleaded the boy, "Jellal…Please, come to your senses…"_

"_I have already come to my senses." The boy proclaimed as he shot his arm out, a dark purple light shone under Erza's feet. All of a sudden, a dark miasma with dark red glyphs enshrouded Erza's whole body, choking her in the process all the while her body was slowly being lifted up onto the air. "You're no longer needed. But I will let you live. You took care of those in my way, after all. Leave this island and enjoy your temporary 'freedom'"_

"_J-Jellal…"the small girl uttered in a small voice, her life being slowly choked out of her._

"…_But you will tell no one about this. I can't afford to have the government learn about the Tower of Heaven." Erza's body is now on Jellal's eye level, and he slowly pulled her floating figure until she was inches to his face. He cupped her chin and continued, "If word does get out, then I will be forced to annihilate this tower and everyone here. You're also forbidden to come here. Set even one foot nearby…and…"_

_He put his face close to her ears, as if to whisper her something of great importance. "Yes…Sho will be the first to go…"_

_Her tears dripped down her face one by one. "Jellal…"_

_Jellal's face was seemingly becoming more insane by the second. His last words to her are…_

"_THAT IS YOUR FREEDOM! YOU WILL LIVE BEARING THE WEIGHT OF YOUR FRIEND'S LIVES… ERZA!"_

Erza Scarlet suddenly bolted her body upright, waking up from the long nightmare. Her face and hair is quite drenched from all the sweat and she is panting heavily. She woke up and realized that she had been lying on the bed for quite some time. Erza analyzed the room she was in. Even though it's dark, she can tell that it's quite a fancy room: complete with furniture, a huge window that allows the moonlight to seep in, a bathroom, and a kitchen that's about the only place in this room that is brightly lid.

Suddenly, the light in the kitchen was turned off, and a figure popped out from it. The figure stepped in and walked his way to the bed, where she is presently sitting upright. The figure walked in closer until Erza can get a good look on his face, the darkness covering his figure cleared up by the seeping moonlight. The figure is a tan-skinned man with white hair wearing a tight black armor with silver linings, added by a pair of black pants and steel boots.

"…Ah, you're awake." The man kneeled in front of the bed and put his firm hand on Erza's forehead. "Your fever is gone now, that's good." He gave her a reassuring smile and hand out what seemed to be a plate of soup to her.

"You haven't eaten anything right? Eat this soup for now; my kitchen is currently out of ingredients until I buy more..." He informed the girl as she took the plate and a spoon from his other hand. The man sat himself on the edge of the window, quietly observing the starry skies.

She took a spoonful of the soup into her mouth, and what she tasted made her taste buds tingle. "…It's good." She unconsciously spoke the words out.

"I'm glad you liked it…" the man shifted his gaze from the sky to her sitting figure. "What's your name?" he asked the young girl on his bed.

The girl stopped eating and placed her spoon on the plate of soup. She answered the man, "Erza… Erza Scarlet."

Once again, the man turned his head from the girl to the skies. "Erza Scarlet… that's a good name to have. My name is Emiya Shirou, it's nice to meet you, Erza."

After, a deafening silence ensued throughout the room, which lasted a good few minutes. Erza had resumed eating her plate of soup, before finishing and putting the plate on the empty desk beside the bed. She looked to the man, who did the same to her. "…Why did you save me?" She inquired the man.

The man, Shirou, pondered a little at the question, before replying, "I don't really need a reason to save someone in need…"

Erza turned silent for a while.

"I'll go out for a while to check if there are any market still open… wait in this room, alright?" Shirou asked the girl.

She nodded without much thought; the man turned his back on her and left the room in a few seconds. Erza placed her head on the pillow, covering herself with the warm blanket to protect her from the cold night. However, a shout repeated itself on the back of her head.

'LIVE BEARING THE WEIGHT OF YOUR FRIEND'S LIVE… ERZA!'

That snapped her out of her trance. She can't just lie on the bed comfortable while Jellal and her friends are still on the tower doing who knows what. Then she remembered everything. The prisoners rebellion, their victory against the cultists, Jellal's betrayal, all of it. Jellal had somehow turned into another person, another personality that she never knew of. The once kind and warm-hearted Jellal had turned into a wicked person with an unknown goal. She can never step back into that tower to save her friends; this Jellal would unmistakably prove his words by killing them… killing Sho and the others...

Even so, she cannot take advantage of a person's willingness to help her, even if he volunteered for it himself. She felt as if she could trust the man; she could not detect any lies from his words. But still, she could not be a burden to him. She does not have anywhere else to go, but she will surely find another place for her to live.

Erza dragged her body out of the bed, letting her bare feet to touch the cold floor. She walked out from the room into the coldness of the night.

_(Scene Change)_

Walking through the silent of the night is Erza Scarlet, her bare feet touching the cold and rough road surface. She does not know where to go; she does not want to burden the man that had saved her life, so she wandered aimlessly around the town. Erza walked, walked, and walked, until she ended up in a dark alley with a dead end.

Turning her back against the dead end, she attempted to exit the alley, only for two thugs to notice her figure and prevented her from exiting.

"He he he, look at what we found, partner…" one of the thugs licked his lips, the dark alley covering their ugly figures.

"Kekeke, what are you doing walking at night alone little girl…?" the other thug cackled creepily, before the two of them cornered little Erza on the dead end.

'This is bad… I can't find a nearby weapon to use, and I can't fully control my Magic yet…' the girl gritted her teeth and clenched her fists hard. It is true; she cannot control her Magic due to only recently found out that she can be a Mage. Her surrogate grandfather, Rob, had sacrificed his life to protect her from the Magic Troops' attacks back at the Tower of Heaven. His death had awakened the sleeping magic potential within her, her rage and anger being the main factor. Without proper training, controlling a newly awakened magic potential is impossible.

But that doesn't mean that she's weak. Her body is strong, strong enough to withstand years after years of slavery and punishment.

Eying the two thugs warily with her left eye, she found an opening and tackled one of the thugs with all of her strength.

"Guhaaa!" he screamed in pain as his body slammed onto the ground with a loud thud. The other thug is frozen, astonished by the sudden action. Seeing this opportunity, Erza tried to dash herself out to the open, only for the still-standing thug to snap out from his bewilderment and grabbed Erza by her arm… and throwing the girl back to where she had been before.

"Kyaa!" She yelped in surprise.

Her exhausted body fell to the hard concrete upside down; her strength suddenly left her small figure. She hadn't fully recovered after all; it was bound to happen sooner or later. She can only curse why it has to be right now.

The fallen thug slowly stood up with the help with his partner. "You little bitch… for an insignificant wench, you're quite strong, huh? You'll pay for what you did…"

"It's useless to resist... I was going to let you live… but I changed my mind. I will carve fear on your very skull, girl!" He took out what seems to be a pocket knife on his right hand, ready to torture the little girl into oblivion.

Erza gritted her teeth and closed her eyes, as if she had resigned her fate. Just as she had readied herself for pain, she heard one of the thugs shout, "W-Who the hell are you?"

Not expecting this turn of events, she opened her eyes and forcefully moved her head and body for a better view. What she saw made her gasp in wonder. The exact man that had saved her is standing right between her crumpled figure and the ugly thugs with a beautiful light-red sword on his hand. The only thing that differs between them is the red shroud on his arms and the red cloak fluttering behind his waist.

What Erza didn't see, is the aggravated look on his face that is directed towards the two thugs in front of him.

Assaulting a little girl that hadn't even reached her teens yet… that's just pure despicable.

"If you still value your arms and legs… I suggest you two to scram out of town, and never come back…" He threatened the thugs with a very intimidating look, anger clear on his eyes.

Trembling uncontrollably, the thugs tried to fight the fear creeping up in their bodies, and failing… quite badly. "W-W-W-We're not scared of you!"

Just as they were about to strike, Shirou let out his killing intent to the thugs, his eyes dilated from pure anger that is slowly building up in him.

The thugs began to back away from the man, their legs shaking from the unleashed killing intent. One of the thugs wet his pants for crying out loud. They dropped their pocket knives and ran, fearing the man will cut them down if they retaliate.

Shirou let out a sigh as he relaxed his stance, before turning his attention back at the crumpled but still conscious figure of Erza Scarlet.

Erza is stuck in a trance from what she's seeing. Somehow, the person standing tall in front of her seems different. A gallant figure with a stoic face, his grey-steel eyes reflecting his years of experience. A breeze picked up and slightly brushed the man's white hair. The light-red sword, seemingly emanate its beauty in her very eyes gleamed on the darkness of the surroundings. He stood tall in front of her like a chivalrous knight would. The very sight is astounding, like she had never seen anything like it before. Thought something unexpected happened, the sword dissipated itself into nothingness.

He kneeled down on one knee and lifted her body on his arms bridal style, earning him a surprised yelp from the young soon-to-be-Mage.

As he slowly walked out from the alley, he lectured the girl on his arms, "I told you to stay in the bed you know..."

Erza, seemingly unsure on what to say, replied in a small voice, "B-But I didn't want to be a burden to you..."

Upon hearing this, his facial expression softened a little. "You don't have to worry about that, I like to help people, and I do not consider it as a burden whatsoever…" Shirou proclaimed as he continued to walk.

Seeing that the girl in his arm is still a bit confused, he continued, "You know, when I found you lying unconscious on the shore like that, I was a bit panicked. When I checked your pulse and sensed that you're still alive, I was relieved… then I've realized that a young girl like you must've been through a lot to end up in such a place in your condition."

He stopped walking and gave the girl a reassuring smile. "I won't ask you about what you've gone through, nor will I force you to. If you have nowhere else to go… you are welcomed to stay in my home as long as you want."

Tears began to well on Erza's left eye as she began to cry and sob on his chest, grieving on her incapability to save her comrades and friends. She kept crying until they arrived back at Shirou's apartment.

_(Scene Change)_

"Here, you can put these on after taking a bath." Shirou handed Erza a pair of plain looking light blue pajamas. It's much better than what the girl is wearing; she might catch a cold wearing that all day.

She gratefully received the pajamas and thanked Shirou before making her way into the bathroom. Shirou took this opportunity to contact his Master. He projected a round, clear crystal lacrima, also known as_ '_Co_mmunications Lacrima Cystal'_. This particular lacrima works as a communication device in this world, or in his case a different form of telephones. A lacrima is a Magic crystalline substance found in this world. Lacrimas can be used for many different purposes; hence it is a vital importance in this world.

They can be applied for explosives, entertainment, communication, and many other things. Though the lacrimas as practically useless without being charged with magic first...

With 'Structural Grasping' and the basic knowledge of this world implanted to his head being a Servant and all, projecting one isn't that hard for the red-clad Magus.

"Master… can you hear me…?" Shirou focused his attention on the crystalline ball, trying to call his Master.

A blur appeared on the crystal ball, before the image cleared up and showed Makarov's face and the room behind him.

Yawning widely, Makarov rubbed his bleary eyes with his arm in the attempt to stay awake. "What is it, Shirou…? It's already midnight…"

"Master, I need you to wait for me in the eastern forest, by Porlyusica's house in the morning." He informed his sleepy Master.

"Hmm? What's the matter Shirou? Tell me the whole thing so that I can understand."

_(A few minutes later…)_

"I see… so this girl had lost her right eye and you want Porlyusica to give her an artificial one…" the Guild Master stroked his chin as he pondered at the thought. "But, you know that she doesn't really like humans, right?"

Shirou let out a small chuckle before answering, "Of course, that's why I called you for this, Master. You're a good friend of her are you not?"

"Oho~ you're quite well informed Shirou… I guess that's why you're my Servant, ne? Gahahaha!"

Shirou face palmed at his Master's antics. Actually, he hadn't told his Master that Servants occasionally dreamt about their Master's past like how a Master dreamt of the Servant's past. That's why Shirou would know about his Master's friends, including his most unfriendly one, also known as 'The Healing Mage, Porlyusica'.

"Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow morning, Master. Don't be late, or…"

"I get it, I get it! Anyway, Shirou…" his Master turned serious for a moment. Usually, this is the part where he… "The girl… is she cute?" joked about something ridiculous.

Shirou shattered the crystal lacrima instantly, letting the shattered remains dissolve into the atmosphere. Really, his Master's pervertedness hadn't changed even in an old age. Asking him, a 26 years old (actually he's 29 by this year) about a little girl that's no more than 11 years old whether she's cute or not… that's just wrong.

His train of thought is interrupted by Erza as the latter walked out wearing the pajamas Shirou had bought for her all the while drying her hair with a towel. She sat on the bed with her eyes on focused on the floor.

"Well, it's already midnight, why don't you go to bed?" the Magus suggested.

She looked at him and nodded, before asking, "Ne, Shirou… where will you sleep?"

He raised an eyebrow and realization hit him. "Well, I'll sleep on the floor of course."

Erza shook her head in denial. "No, you're the owner of this house hold; you're supposed to be the one that sleep on the bed, not the guest."

It seems that she had developed a chivalrous personality all of a sudden… when did that happen? Shirou looked at her with an incredulous look on his face.

"I'll be the one that sleep on the floor; you'll sleep on the bed Shirou." She ordered the red-clad Magus. Or rather that's what had been her personality before she had met him, meaning she opened up to him.

"No, as the owner of this house hold, I'll decide who will sleep on the bed, and that's you." He shot back to the girl.

"I refuse. I insist that you will take the bed, no matter what." The girl declared with conviction on her tone.

The two began to debate, until it led to this…

'How did this happen again?' Shirou asked himself, unsure of the situation. He ended up sharing a bed with Erza, her arms wrapped itself on his waist to prevent him from getting up/escape. He sighed at her behavior, but gave up since there is no way around this. Shirou de-materialized his cloak and shroud due to the uncomfortable sensations it was giving him under the bed sheets. His mind slowly falls into deep sleep.

He didn't see Erza's expression, due to her small stature wrapped up on his lower body. She had a small smile on her drowsy face. Her last thought before calling it a night was, 'it's warm…'

_(Next Morning…)_

"Shirou…" Erza called on the Magus.

"Yes?"

"Where are we heading right now?" She curiously asked.

"We're going to my Master's old companion's house." He informed Erza. Currently, they are both heading to Makarov's old companion's house, Porlyusica. She lives in the middle of the eastern forest near Magnolia, due to her dislike to humans, she prefer to live somewhere quiet and peaceful. His Master had once formed a team in Fairy Tail with her and a few others.

Erza's wore a white blouse and a red skirt, while Shirou is in his usual attire. Since she doesn't have any clothing, Shirou had bought it for her last night.

"Master…? Are you a Mage, Shirou?" Erza gave Shirou a questioning look.

Shirou paused for a moment, before replying, "Yeah, I'm a Mage of Fairy Tail…"

Erza is shocked at this. She had been planning to join with Fairy Tail since her surrogate grandfather, Rob, was once a member of Fairy Tail. He had said that he had much fun being in Fairy Tail, and it was the best experience he had in his old life. Knowing that, she had reached the conviction that she will join Fairy Tail herself.

Erza gave the Magus another question, "What's being in a Guild like?"

Shirou raised his fore finger and began to explain, "Well, every Guild has a different feel in it. For example, a Guild such as Blue Pegasus, another famous Guild in Fiore, has this relaxing atmosphere that their members aren't really much of a rowdy bunch. If you count Fairy Tail, the Guild I work for, it's quite a ruckus every day, but that's the most unique feature of Fairy Tail…" he let out a small chuckle at the thought.

"But what most Guild have in common… is that they're never alone, and they support each other… like a family." He finished his lecture.

'Family…' that particular word repeated itself on her mind. She had been separated from her friends who she considered as family, and she is denied from the chance to meet them again. Is it alright for her to be in a new family?

"We're here, Erza…" They stopped walking and met the sight of a huge tree… house?

A voice greeted the two of them, "Yo, Shirou… that's the little girl, I presume?"

Makarov appeared behind the two with his hands behind his back and he immediately closed in and analyzed little Erza, in every nook and corner, much to the scarlet-haired girl's discomfort.

"Ho ho… you'll grow into a gorgeous woman someday little girl, I just know it…" then realization hit him. "Shirou? Did you sleep with h—?" before he could finish his sentence, he grabbed Makarov by his back collar and put a hand on his mouth, silencing the perverted Master.

Then Shirou leaned in to Makarov's left ear and whispered something that Erza can't quite pick up. Surprisingly, the squirming Master stopped struggling and began to tremble, his face paler than a dead corpse… if that's even possible.

Shirou placed his Master back to his original position, and smirked in victory. Makarov eyed his oh-so-faithful Servant with a betrayed comical look on his face.

"H-H-How do you know about that?" the Master stuttered in a meek voice.

"I got my sources… now let's get back to what we came here for… lead the way Master." He chided him.

Encountering this set of event got young Erza curious as she asked her fellow roommate. "Is the Fairy Tail's Master always like this?" when she had heard that they were meeting Fairy Tail's Master, she was a bit nervous as the old man is Fiore's strongest Guild's Master. She didn't expect the man to be an easy going person like this…

"Yep, sometimes he's even worse in the Guild," He laughed slightly. Then Shirou heard Makarov muttering something about 'boring Servant' and 'getting revenge' quietly on their front. "He's also one of a kind…"

_(Scene Break)_

*Knock, Knock*

Makarov knocked the tree house's wooden door twice, before receiving an answer from the inside. "Wait a minute, fools!"

Shirou and Makarov sweat dropped at that remark. Her dislike for humans tends to make her a little… bad-tempered with Mages, and she never let a human stay in or near her humble abode for too long. For what Shirou recalled in the dream cycle… she chased and beat up those who dare to remain for too long with a long broom.

The door opened and showed a slim and tall elderly woman with pink hair tied in a bun at the back of her head by two large pins with crescent moon-shaped edges, and with two bangs of hair left framing her face. Her attire consists of a dark green blouse with a tie around the collar, paired with a long matching skirt and simple shoes. Over this, she sports a crimson-colored cape, with a wide collar decorated by massive dragon horn-like decorations protruding outwards, and edges adorned by white, arch-like motifs.

Her face is almost always scowling whenever a human bothered her, with a few exceptions being her old team mate such as Makarov here.

"It's you, Makarov. What do you want?" She asked the elderly Guild Master with stoic facial expression. Then her eyes wondered to Shirou and Erza, whom she had never seen before. Which is most likely because she chose a solitary life in the forest, thus she only knew the senior members of Fairy Tail. "And these are?" she gestured at the two people behind Makarov.

"The tall young man here is Emiya Shirou, the new S-Class Mage that I've appointed two years ago. The young girl here is Erza Scarlet." He finished introducing the two. "I need you to give this girl an artificial right eye… is that alright?"

Erza gasped at this revelation, she hadn't thought that Shirou brought her here to replace her lost one. 'I… can get my right eye back…?' She quietly asked herself.

The elderly pink-haired woman eyed Erza's white eye-patch, where her right eye socket is. She snorted, before gesturing the three of them to come in.

As the three of them entered, Shirou could not help but to analyze the interior of the house. Even though it's in the insides of a big tree, it's quite spacious. Most of the interior is filled with shelves, unique looking plants, furniture, and a bed. There's a huge window where the sunlight goes in. Inside the shelves are vials with strange looking liquid, books, and different looking herbs. In short, this is just what you'll expect from a medical specialist.

"You, girl, sit on the bed over there." She ordered in a tone that seemingly does not accept a 'no' as an answer.

"H-Hai…" Erza made her way to the bed and sat upright on it.

"You two, stay there, and don't disturb me or the patient." She told the two men standing in front of the door. They nodded and proceed to watch the medical procedure. Porlyusica began by collecting some of the herbs and ingredients that she needed, and immediately sat on her pharmaceutical work table.

_(A few minutes later…)_

"It's finished. Stay still, girl." Porlyusica stood and walked in front of Erza, before kneeling to meet her in eye-level.

'…That was fast,' was the thought of both Shirou and Makarov. Even though Makarov had known Porlyusica for many years, and Shirou had seen her capabilities in the dream cycle, they can't help but still be impressed by her work efficiency.

"Y-You can really give me a new eye?" Erza timidly asked the figure kneeling in front of her.

"Of course, who do you think I am, little girl? It's not a real one, but it works much better than a normal eye."Porlyusica declared with a stern face. The elderly woman placed her palm inches from Erza's right eye socket, and began muttering some kind of spell. The front palm of her hand began to emit purplish light.

Erza began to feel tingling sensations on her right eye socket, before the feeling began to diminish as the purplish light goes away.

"There… it's done." She stood up and handed Erza a mirror.

Erza slowly uncase her eye patch, before finally looked at the mirror on her hand. Her right eye is back, the eye she had lost in that accursed punishment chamber had been replaced by a new one. Tears began to trail down her face. But unexpectedly, only her left eye does… her new right eye does not...

Makarov and Shirou's widened their eyes in shock; Porlyusica too had a surprised look on her usually stern and stoic face.

"That's impossible! I've done everything perfectly! It should be—"Her sentence was cut short as Erza butted in.

"That's okay… I've already shed half of my tears anyway…" she said with a melancholic face.

Shirou closed in and stood beside Porlyusica. "So, what do you want to do, Erza?" He asked the girl.

She paused for a moment, than her grandpa Rob's face appeared on the back of her mind. A family… she wanted to know what it feels like to have one, the Guild where her grandpa Rob had been…

"I… want to join Fairy Tail." The girl answered with conviction on her voice.

This time, Makarov walked in near Erza. "Well said. Welcome to the family!" Makarov welcomed the girl with a cheeky smile. Shirou also gave the girl a welcoming smile.

"Then, let's go back to our family, shall we?" Shirou turned his back and bowed to Porlyusica in appreciation, in which she returned with a nod. Makarov and Erza did the same, before the three made their way to Fairy Tail.

_(Scene Change)_

Standing in front of Fairy Tail are Erza Scarlet, Shirou, and its Guild Master.

"Are you ready, Erza?" Makarov asked the girl.

"Don't worry, I think they'll accept you right away…" Shirou gave her a smile before he eyed the entrance again.

She nodded, and the three entered the building...

"Shirou! Fight me again!" A shout was heard as a flying kick from a naked Gray, our favorite 10 years old Ice-Make Mage, headed towards Shirou's face. Having experienced this ambush over and over again, he quickly traced torashinai and smacked Gray by his head before the kick landed… which resulted a fallen Gray lying on the wooden floor upside down with white smoke emitting from where he had been hit.

Erza is amazed on what she's seeing; the whole Guild is rowdy just like what Shirou had told him before. Everyone in it is laughing, having fun, or having a friendly fight. It's like what her grandpa Rob had said…

"Kuh… that's a lucky shot, Shirou! I demand a rematch!" the fallen boy said as he struggled to stand up straight while rubbing his throbbing head.

Shirou sighed at the boy's antics. He did say he will fight him anytime he wanted to, but he's sure a persistent one. "We can do that later, Gray. We got a new member here…" he pointed towards Erza.

Erza looked at the dazed scarlet-haired girl, before shifting his attention back to Shirou. "A new member? Is she strong?"

"We'll see about that in due time…" Shirou said as he crossed his arms.

"Well then, fight me a— Gofu!" His sentence is put to a halt as someone stomped on Gray's back, making the poor boy fall to his face flat on the floor… again. That someone being Cana Alberona… whom is standing in front of Shirou with a pout on her face. "Shirou! You promised that you'll take me on a date!" the girl exclaimed, not caring the muffled sound beneath her pair of sandals.

'I promised her that?' Shirou pondered to himself.

Gray somehow managed to free himself from the Tarot Magic user's weight and stood up, pointing at Cana. "What's that for, you bastard!"

"Oh, Gray… I was wondering where you had gone to…" Cana exclaimed with a mocking grin on her expression.

"You want to fight me, horse tail?" Gray put his clenched fist on his other hand's palm, white mist began to emit from the sudden low temperature.

"Bring it on, ice cone!" Cana raised her hand with 3 tarot cards held, ready to strike.

Wakaba and Macao closed in to Shirou with their hands on their pocket. "Shirou! Now I know why you avoid those fan girls of yours! You're a ped—"Both of their sentences were cut on the last part as their faces met the mighty torashinai, a vein visible on Shirou's forehead. The two adults were knocked out with their eyes rolled back, smoke coming out of their foreheads. Then all hell is set loose as the whole Guild started fighting. Tables, chairs, barrels, everything is turned into splinters as they are thrown again and again.

Shirou face palmed, this is pretty much everyday occurrence.

Makarov turned himself into a giant and shouted, **"Stop this, you fools!"**

The whole Guild turned silent. Makarov nodded and popped back into his small form in a puff of smoke. "We've got a new member in Fairy Tail!" he pointed towards Erza.

Realizing this is her cue; Erza looked at Shirou who nodded at her, before introducing herself.

"My name is Erza Scarlet, I'll be joining Fairy Tail now… it will be a pleasure to work alongside all of you." Erza said with a voice full of determination.

"One…two…three…" Makarov grumbled, before the whole Guild exploded in a single yell.

"WELCOME TO FAIRY TAIL!" Everyone, including the supposedly still unconscious Wakaba, Macao, welcomed the girl with huge grins plastered on their faces.

Shirou, who's still standing beside Erza, put a hand on her head, and smiled at the girl. She returned the smile with her own, the first real smile she had ever shown since she first set foot in Fiore.

**END OF CHAPTER**

Author's note continued: Well, the next chapter will come a bit late… and that is probably because of my sudden ruined writer's mood, and due to the time that I will need to edit the first three chapters. But that may change if I get a Beta early, as the stress on my back is increased by my unfortunate fate to take part in a stupid military school for 5 straight days. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have my VNs waiting for me to relieve all the stress.

Oh, and I don't really have to mention… but…

Review!


	5. Enter Natsu, Yearning for Strength

Author's note: Alrighty, the fifth chapter is done, and I am sooooo busy for the past few days, so this came up a bit late. Let's just hope my days wouldn't get any busier than this… because I can't update regularly as my schedule are a bit jumbled up. The first and second chapter had been betaed, and because my beta is busy himself like I do, the third and fourth might took a few days or a week before it can be edited. I'd like to point out a few things like always.

First, I'm still in the introductory arc, the action will take place after one or two more chapters. Expect different set of swords… and of course, all the badass moves you can imagine.

Second, Servant! Shirou won't curbstomp everything on his path. Of course, I need to balance the power levels from both universes. About the liberty that I took on summoning Shirou as a Servant, I think I might have found a way to counter that… but I won't spoil the story, so I'll refrain from saying anything more.

(**Note: I seem to have created quite a fatal mistake in the status sheet below, Shirou is not an owner (that's Gilgamesh), but a Faker. Now I felt like punching myself for making such a stupid yet fatal mistake... good thing a reviewer (thanks to kinglugia) informed me before I was bombarded with lots and lots of flames. As for the other things such as Gildarts' prosthetic arm and legs, as well as the Cana's and Shirou's age...**

**1) Shirou's age: 26(30?) Shirou was adopted by Kiritsugu around the age of 5-6, and he was thrown into the Fifth Holy Grail War at the age of 15-16. He died at the age of 26, he cultivated his abilities to its maximum potential, and he received intensive contact with Archer, thus his abilities grows in a much faster rate than Archer does. It's of no wonder he made it as a Heroic Spirit.**

**2)Cana's Age: 11, it's still seven years away from canon, and what I said about her being the oldest junior member of Fairy Tail, I meant she's the member that had joined for the longest time. I accelerated the Gildarts' and Cana's father and daughter reunion. Lastly, for the Gildarts' prosthetic body parts... it was not an accident, I did it on purpose. Gildarts' took the 100-year request earlier before Shirou had joined. Sorry about the mistake on the 18 years part... it was supposed to be 11 years ago. Fixed.**

**And so, that's it for the explanation)**

Okay, for the reviewers reply:

**Dark-Knight-Prinny: Your advice has been gratefully received.**

**Anon(Xavier): No, it's not the full power of his shot… as he can easily control the power and trajectory of his sword arrows.**

**Anon(Gildarts): Well, I can't say that he will take one because I'll be spoiling the story…**

**ZxZ Fic Hunter: Yup, minor error on that part. It'll get fixed in time.**

**Anon(Mercz): Do expect other weapons than K & B, and thank you for your suggestions. Yes, don't expect UBW anytime soon… save the surprises until the very last and best moments, yes?**

**Anon: Now that I have a beta reader, you don't have to worry about me switching 'in' as 'on' or vice versa. I'm sorry that it bothers you more than it should.**

**Blue342: Yes, it would take an S-Class Mage to make him broke a sweat… and a few dozens of them to completely defeat him if he is to use his full ability. Trying to overpower him and show the universe how great Shirou is… was not my intention. I have a rough plot in mind… and Shirou won't curbstomp everything as many thought he would be. As for his skills as a Servant… you'll see it after you scroll down the screen.**

**Anon: Now, it's my fault from not being more elaborate in the Crane Wing Three Realm part. Yes, I admit that it is a fatal move that has the ability to kill Hercules(Berserker) once. Shirou however, needed to know the full capabilities of an S-Class Mage. If you check back the battle scene in the third chapter (still unedited), I modified a few parts of it so that it didn't seem like he was half assing the fight. Do note that some Magic in Earth Land borders true Sorcery… so it shouldn't be impossible for a few Mages capable of thwarting one of Shirou's fatal moves (If you ask me, Crane Wing Three Realm is far from the most fatal out of Shirou's infinite armory).**

I created a status sheet for Servant! Shirou…! And the Fairy Tail's version of his abilities to make it less confusing.

**Class: Archer**

True name Emiya Shirou

Male

187cm 79 kg

Neutral Good Alignment

_**Status:**_

Strength D

Endurance C

Agility C

Magical Energy B+

Luck C

Noble Phantasm ? (Will be updated at a later point)

_**Class Abilities:**_

Magic Resistance: D

Nullifies single-action magic. Magic resistance equivalent to a warding amulet. Higher level of Magic won't be nullified, but damage is somewhat reduced.

Independent Action: B

An ability that allows independent movement even after the Master's magical energy supply is cut off. At this rank, Servant is able to stay for two days without the energy supply from a Master.

_**Details:**_

Emiya Shirou, the ultimate winner of the Fifth Holy Grail War and Magus apprentice of Rin Tohsaka. He is a lone hero who strives to fulfill the wish of his late father, Emiya Kiritsugu. Dedicating his whole life to fulfill the wish to save lives and where he can make everyone happy, he was admired by a lot of people whom he had saved and those he had helped. Unlike Archer, his alternate self from another timeline, Emiya Shirou was not condemned by the people whom he hadn't saved. He was hailed as a hero after the time of his death, for managing to fend and destroy a horde of significantly powerful Dead Apostles after being drained from his previous Apostle Hunt, which is participated by a large portion of the Enforcers and the Queen of the Clock Tower herself, Bathomeloi Lorelei. His ideals may be called as hypocrisy, but the meaning in itself is beautiful, that is why they support him. Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg overrules Barthomeloi Lorelei's decision to kill the 1000 survivors that Emiya Shirou had saved and instead manipulated their memories into removing anything related to magic from their memories.

Before the invasion, he himself volunteered to eliminate the vile creatures alone. Of course, there are some that offered to accompany the man in his valor to enter the life and death battle, but before any of them could; Emiya Shirou had practically thrown himself into the battle. His death however, was a peaceful one.

During his time in the Fifth Holy Grail War, Emiya Shirou had met Archer, his future alternate self from another timeline, whom had fulfilled his ideal in saving lives, supposedly Archer was the end point of what Emiya Shirou would've become if he chose to follow through his father's wish. As Archer's wish is to kill his younger self by being summoned as a Servant by the Holy Grail, his stay in the war is for the sole purpose of getting rid of his naïve self. Emiya Shirou and Archer fought with their blades at each other's throat, but naturally as a Servant, Archer has the potential to kill Emiya Shirou anytime he wanted to, even with a tenth of his power due to being a Master-less Servant. Yet he did not, for he realized his mistake after seeing the unwavering determination of Emiya Shirou… and he strongly believes that Rin Tohsaka has the ability to salvage Shirou from straying into his remorseful path of regrets.

Due to his intensive contact with Archer, Emiya Shirou had developed a fighting style closely similar to that of Archer. He's able to use a Reality Marble due to his distorted personality, which should only have been possible after ten years of training to set the foundations for the ability and another ten years to reach to the point of being able to use it.

Like Archer, he is a blacksmith hero, who can use a Reality Marble to forge numerous weapons without penalty. Unknown to the man, he received the title "The Crimson Guardian" upon his death. He is the first human to ascend to the Throne of Heroes after a few centuries.

**Skills:**

Clairvoyance: C

Allows clear vision of distant targets, and improves body movement and precision. At higher ranks, it allows the Servant to see through objects, and even through time.

Magic: C

The knowledge of orthodox magic. The ability to perform the basics of Magecraft but is unable to do any offensive Magecraft that work around the lines of nature interference.

Bravery: A

Increased effect bonus in applying melee damage. At this rank, it negates fear, confusion, and pressure, almost making it non-existent.

Mind's Eye(True): B

Capable of calm analysis of battle conditions even when in danger and deduce an appropriate course of action after considering all possibilities to escape from a predicament. So long there is even a 1% chance of a comeback; this ability greatly improves the chances of winning.

Eye for Weapons: EX

The ability to identify the name and history of any weapon one sees.

Women Problem: C+

A deathly curse where one will most likely be surrounded by cat fights. At B rank and below, this skill will not be activated unless the man has gained enough popularity. At A rank and above, the skill is always triggered; extreme precaution is necessary at A rank and above to prevent public orgies.

**Noble Phantasms:**

**Unlimited Blade Works: Infinite Sword Creation**

Rank: E-A++

Type: ?

Range: ?

Maximum Range: ?

**Details:** A special magic called Reality Marble, which only a few select being possess, Shirou being one of the select few. It has the ability to duplicate any weapon he had seen, but any weapon duplicated by him will have its rank deducted by one. Defensive equipment is also possible, but will need about two or three times more prana to duplicate. However, divine constructs such as Ea and Excalibur are unable to be replicated as the construction of weapons is also limited to materials found upon the planet in the present era, so weapons like Ea, which are constructed from substances not found in the world, cannot be analyzed or reproduced. Weapons replicated through projection will be reduced by one rank, while a non-weapon will need more prana to re-produce.

**Avalon: The Everdistant Utopia**

Rank: EX

Type: Barrier Noble Phantasm

Protection Target: 1 Person

**Details:** The hallowed scabbard of Excalibur, the embodiment of utopia King Arthur seeks, but is stolen shortly after the battle of Camlann. Implanted by Emiya Kiritsugu inside Emiya Shirou's body to save the boy from his impending death cue the aftermath of the Fourth Holy Grail War. Even after Emiya Shirou's death, the divine mystery hasn't been extracted from his body, thus he carries the legendary sheath of Excalibur as one of his Noble Phantasm as a Servant. It is also the reason why Emiya Shirou's Elemental Affinity and Origin turns into "Swords". Unusable in any way. Without the presence of Arthuria, she cannot supply prana into the scabbard and thus rending it useless. However, Emiya Shirou is able to create a perfect projection of it without the degradation that bypasses all of the steps due to having a complete record of it. He can't use it as an 'Absolute Barrier', but it still grants the possessor its regenerative abilities.

_Here is the Fairy Tail's version of his abilities:_

**Projection (Trace Version): **Differing from Earth Land's Magic, this is his world's practice of thaumaturgy referred as magecraft. Where Projection is usually a magecraft that materializes objects in accordance to the caster's imagination through the use of prana, Emiya Shirou's version, Tracing, is predominantly much more potent, as it not only does it reproduce the shape and substance of an object, but also its entire history as well. Objects created with tracing are slightly inferior due to the fact that only so much information can be gathered by sight alone, and Noble Phantasms are degraded by an entire rank.

Shirou divided the process of tracing into seven steps, which include the following:

Judging the concept of creation

Hypothesizing the basic structure

Duplicating the composition material

Imitating the skill of its making

Sympathizing with the experience of its growth

Reproducing the accumulated years

Excelling every manufacturing process

It is possible to produce an incredibly stable ordinary item that can remain in the world for hours after their creation. Furthermore, whenever replicating Noble Phantasms, it is possible to faithfully copy the abilities and any skill that its owner performed available to use. This is possible due to his Reality Marble, _Unlimited Blade Works: Infinite Sword Creation_. Of course, due to this ability's huge similarity with Ex-quip, when viewed by any naked eye, it will be perceived as Requip Magic by Earth land Inhabitants.

**Reinforcement: **Another form of magecraft used by Shirou. As its name implied, it's used to reinforce a certain target or object to enhance its properties. Contrary to its name, Reinforcement is actually the most difficult magecraft with the purpose of pushing a basis to the utmost. Reinforcing the purpose of existence would be increasing the sharpness of a knife, the nourishment of food, or in the case of a living creature, physical strength and durability. Shirou uses this ability to enhance his body capabilities and to reinforce his projections.

**Immense Strength: **As a Servant, his strength in terms of a Mage is enormous. His strength would be around twenty times more powerful than that of a regular human, not including the Reinforcement that he applies to his spiritual body.

**Immense Durability: **As a Servant, his body's durability would be thirty times more than that of a regular human. Not including reinforcement, his body can withstand a direct impact from an accelerating truck without getting hurt too much. Magic, however, is a different case.

**Immense Endurance:** Shirou will never suffer any case of fatigue as long as he still has a contract with a Master capable of supplying him with magical energy. As long as he avoids using up too much prana, he is able to battle for as long as he wants.

**Immense Agility: **As a Servant, he is many times faster than a regular human, and his body is about thirty times more agile than a regular human. Technically, the only way to defeat him would be by Magic. He has not revealed his full body capabilities to lessen the attention directed at him. In real combat, Mages that seek melee combat with him has the potential to be defeated in less than 3 seconds unless the person has praiseworthy combat capabilities.

**Enhanced Eyesight:** With reinforced eyes, Shirou's optimum line of sight reached four kilometers from his position. This greatly favors him in long-distance combat, as his shot never missed its target.

**Master Archery: **Shirou is perfectly compatible with his bow, and he never missed his target, unless it's on purpose. But, if there is one thing that differ him from any archer all over the universe… is that he utilizes a sword as a replacement for an arrow.

**Destructive Archery Precision: **Rather than arrows, Shirou prefers the use of swords as his projectile. What makes this highly destructive is because every sword that he shot from his bow has the potential to reach the velocity of Mach 13. He can easily adjust the speed and trajectory of his shot.

**Unlimited Blade Works: **A Reality Marble, something akin to Lost Magic in his world, but much more potent in comparison. It's a Magic that materialize and project one's inner world, rewriting reality in its process. Not much is known about this Magic since Shirou himself hadn't showed any sign of using it yet.

**Weapons Specialist:** His ability in allowing him to project any kind of weapons in his armory allows him to have some sort of mastery over many weapons. He is however, a Faker. He's someone that uses imitated weapons and skills. His entire arsenal of weapons are not originally his to begin with. With skills that he replicated from the original owner, and with weapons that aren't his, this results in Emiya Shirou as a dangerous foe and a formidable ally.

Power levels, this is one thing that will surely be debated over and over again. Now, I suspect that most of you thought that Shirou will surely defeat Gildarts with quite ease. Technically, it's true, considering how Shirou's physical capabilities are inhumanely high. However, when I watched the Edolas Arc where Natsu lost his magical power temporarily resulting him to be ridiculously weak, I developed a theory for FT universe power levels. (I'll continue this in the author's note continued, but read the story first)

I wrote this chapter while listening to Emiya Remixes over and over again… it never does get old.

**Edited by Vandenbz.**

That aside, enjoy~

[Chapter 5]

X777, July 8th

Running frantically in the midst of a forest was Natsu Dragneel. Seemingly detached of anything else, the boy kept on sprinting with no particular destination in mind. Why was he running non-stop without a moment of rest, you ask? Because he was searching for his adoptive father, Igneel, who had gone missing just yesterday morning when he had woken up. The boy couldn't seem to pick up his scent anywhere… which was unusual since Igneel always had a strong scent on him.

"Igneel! Where are you?!" the boy yelled in hope of getting some kind of answer, but silence was all he got from the dense forest that surrounded him.

Igneel had always been his father and even though he was kind of hard in raising him, he would have never left him alone for a whole day without telling him. That was what worried the boy the most, since Igneel hadn't left him a message about his disappearance, he concluded that something bad must have happened to his father. But that was also impossible, with the reasoning that his father was insanely powerful to the point that he could destroy small boulders only with the force of his deafening roar.

The boy stopped his frantic running after a while and gasped for much needed air. He did not need to think much about Igneel's disappearance, he only had to find him, and demand answers from the red dragon. The best way to start would be by searching for information in local areas.

Thus the boy made his way to the nearest town, Magnolia.

(Scene Break)

Sitting in a cross legged position on a round chair near a bar counter with glass of beer on hand was Makarov Dreyar, the Guild Master of Fairy Tail. He took a swig from his glass, before slamming it on the counter with a sigh while wiping his mouth with his sleeve. This place was his favorite bar throughout the whole town, and he would occasionally visit the place for a drink or two. Being a Guild Master had its downsides after all, the main one being the stress that the Magic Council by their constant nagging on how his Guild was fond of doing constant property damage. Makarov had always disliked the Magic Council ever since he was young…

They would try to impose all of their rules on every Guild, but he believed that the skills and Magic of his guild members would not be able to grow if he made them conform to the rules of the Council. Hence, he would always try to balance the reprimands of the Council and the eccentricity of his Guild. It was not easy to manage a Guild that was always being hunted by the Magic Council… but fortunately for the old man, the Magic Council had lessened their attempts in disbanding Fairy Tail after the joining of his Servant, Emiya Shirou.

Now that brought forth another question, what did the man do to achieve such a result?

The answer being that the man had always provided the Guild with the necessary funds to pay for the property damage the Guild had caused… and he was probably the only controlled member of the Guild without the God of Destruction following his back, something which was deeply appreciated by his clients.

It has been approximately four years after he had joined Fairy Tail, and he had become a big brother figure in the Guild… minus the fact that most of the female members had tried to hit on him, only to fail horribly due to the latter's unconceivable obliviousness.

Thinking back, Shirou had mentioned that he had already left the plane of the living once, and the red-clad Magus that Makarov and the rest of the Guild had known for more than three years was only the manifestation of his soul that was stored in some place called the Throne of Heroes. He hadn't told him much more about the topic, but Makarov could tell from the dream cycles that he had about Shirou's past.

Shirou's past could be described as bitter from another person's point of view. Adopted by his father at the age of ten from a huge fire that had eradicated the boy's whole town and its residents, the boy had lost his memories and everything else that connected him to his past. Emiya Kiritsugu took the boy in and gave him a new life… as Emiya Shirou. A boy who strived to be a "Hero of Justice", a distorted boy who prioritized the safety of others more than his own…

And then the boy died fulfilling his life-long ideal… leaving those who cared about and loved him mourning and dejected. After witnessing the entirety of his Servant's past, Makarov couldn't help but think that Shirou deserved more happiness than he was given… heck, anyone who had watched the whole spectacle would have thought the same.

Makarov's thoughts were put to a halt as a pink-haired boy with spiky hair entered the bar while slamming the door, resulting in a pregnant silence with the only sound present being the panting of said boy, presumably from running too much. Of course, the boy had attracted a lot of attention from the usually rowdy customers.

Trying to compose himself from the fatigue, the boy asked an incredulous question while still panting for air, "H-Have… any of you… seen a… large red dragon… fly by?"

'A dragon?'

Dragons were extremely powerful and intelligent creatures that lived in Earthland. Seeing even one of them was a very rare sight for humans, as they were creatures that preferred a solitary life without being disturbed by other beings. Dragons were described as having the figure of a giant reptilian-like creature, but not much was known about these mysterious beings. Actually, there was one time when a group of over-ambitious Mages had tried to investigate these things by infiltrating the reptiles' respective dens… but none had ever survived to tell the tale. Consequentially, trying to find one was nothing but pure idiocy… and here was a boy asking if a dragon had flown by this particular town. The boy received nothing but mocking laughter as a result.

"Gahahaha! Dragons don't and will never visit a lively town like Magnolia, kid… try somewhere else!" a stout man yelled at the boy with poorly restrained laughter.

"You'll get eaten by that thing if you search for it too much… give it up, brat!" A drunk said as he finished his drink.

Finally able to compose himself, the boy let the sentences sink in before finally he shouted in anger, "What did you say!?"

Then, a scrawny man with bowl-shaped brown hair stood up from his seat and marched forward until he was in front of the boy. He crouched down until he was at an eye-level with the boy. "He said that you will never find that oh-so-powerful dragon of yours. Now get out of he—!?" the scrawny man never did finish his sentence as he was punched in the face and knocked unconscious by a… flaming fist?

"Don't underestimate me, you bastards…" the boy exclaimed with great fury plastered all over his young face. Makarov looked at the boy with clear interest shown on his face. The boy that looked no more than eleven years old had quite a large amount of magic inside his body. It was clear that the boy would be a powerful Mage one day… but for that to happen, his potential must first be honed.

"A M-Mage?!" naturally they were scared of the boy as they are not Mages themselves… and most of the ones that had mocked the boy began to cower in fear.

Not expecting this turn of events, the boy just clicked his tongue in annoyance before turning his back on all of them and exiting the once raucous bar.

Makarov finished his beer in one gulp and chased after the boy.

(Scene Change)

"Boy! Wait up…!" Natsu stopped walking as he heard a call directed at him. He looked over his shoulder and saw a fairly short old man wearing orange attire with a double pointed hat with orange and blue stripes running towards him. He also wore a white shirt adorning a black emblem that Natsu did not recognize underneath that orange coat of his. Strangely, something in Natsu seemed to be drawn towards that particular emblem.

Once the old man reached him, he began to question the boy, "Tell me, boy. What's your name?"

Natsu tilted his head in wonder of what the old man in front of him wants from him. "Natsu, Natsu Dragneel," he answered.

"Then, Natsu… why are you searching for a dragon?"

Natsu paused for a moment, before responding, "I'm searching for my father, Igneel."

His father…? Did that mean…

"Boy, are you telling me that your father is a dragon?" Makarov asked on what was seemingly impossible.

Without a moment of hesitation, he confirmed the statement, "Yeah, Igneel is a dragon."

…

'A dragon as a father… huh?' Makarov knew that the boy wasn't lying. He could obviously tell from the boy's eyes, that he was indeed desperately searching for someone important to him.

"Have you found any clues on where he might be yet?" he asked as he tried to help the boy find his father.

Natsu let out a sigh and scratched the back of his head before replying, "…No, I haven't found anything on him yet. Hey, gramps…"

"Hrrmm?" he gave a questioning glance to the boy.

"Why do you believe me?" he oddly asked the old man. Natsu knew that anybody else would have accused him of lying, yet the old man believed in his story almost instantly. He knew that a normal human child would have had a human father and mother as parents, but he only had Igneel, and now he was gone. So, no matter what, he had to find him… and kick his father's ass hard to get answers out from his flaming nostrils.

"I can tell that you're not lying, Natsu. It's easy to tell the difference between a lie and the honest truth."

Not understanding what he had meant, Natsu only tilted his head in confusion. "Really?"

Makarov gave the boy a quick nod in affirmation and formed a wide grin. "Yep! Say, Natsu… how about joining Fairy Tail? You can look for your father along the way while working for the Guild…" he suggested as the boy gave him another questioning look.

"What's a Guild?" of course, living in a cave with a dragon for years would result in a lack of knowledge about the outside world. Natsu had visited a town or two once or twice a year for new clothing, but he had never really ventured any farther than that. Most of the time he trained, spent time with Igneel, and studied magic along with other subjects. He didn't really favor the last one even until now as it somehow hurt his head from thinking too much.

"A Guild is a place where people gather to do jobs and missions. We treat each other as part of a family, and it's always… gratifying… every day." He paused for a moment before phrasing the 'gratifying' part. Actually it's more like pandemonium every day… but that's just what made the day more enjoyable… right?

"Oohh…!" Well, it seemed to gain Natsu's interest as his eyes seemed to shine brilliantly at the end of the explanation.

Igneel had always been Natsu's only family. Now that he was gone, maybe being in a new family wouldn't be so bad. He could grow stronger and by the time he met Igneel in the future… he'd show the red dragon that he'll surpass him one day.

"What's the Guild's name called?" Natsu asked with sparkles visible in his eyes.

"Fairy Tail," Makarov proudly answered while puffing out his chest.

Pointing towards the emblem located on the middle of Makarov's white shirt, he asked, "Does that mark has something to do with it?"

"Hmm… you're quite sharp, Natsu. Yes, this is the emblem of Fairy Tail." Preparing to return to the Guild, he realized something important. "Oh, and before I forgot… what magic do you use, Natsu?" if he really was raised by a dragon… and he was able to use magic… than his magic could only have been…

"Ah, Igneel had been teaching me what he called Fire Dragon Slayer Magic. I didn't really get it at first… but I guess it's a magic that makes me more like him…" the boy explicated.

Just as Makarov predicted, Dragon Slayer Magic. Dragon Slayer Magic was a branch of Lost Magic which allows its users to transform the physiology of their body into those of a dragon. As a result of this, those with Dragon Slayer abilities were able to change their body to their own element in both offensive and defensive styles. He had heard that they could consume external sources of their own element to replenish their own energy… since Natsu said that he was a Fire Dragon Slayer, he should be able to consume fire to refill his magical energy. Apparently, this was the first time he had met a Dragon Slayer… but from what he knew, Dragon Slayers possessed the potential to be the strongest Mages in Earthland. But of course, Natsu would need a long time to gain complete mastery over his Dragon Slayer Magic.

"I see, I see..." Makarov pondered for a while before motioning Natsu to follow his lead. "Now, let's go meet your new family, shall we?"

Natsu energetically nodded as his face formed a beaming smile. "Let's go, gramps!"

Of course, the unfortunate Master didn't have a clue that in the near future, his Guild would be much more hectic than it was now. Let's just hope that his heart condition won't get worst anytime soon, ne?

(Scene Break)

"Say, Gramps… How does a Guild works?" asked the young Dragon Slayer as he walked leisurely beside Makarov.

As they kept on marching, the Master answered the boy's question, "To put it simply, a Guild is a place where Mages gather, accepting missions and requests as their jobs. You can form a team with other Mages to finish the job quicker and easier, and the reward will be divided equally for each team member. The hierarchy within a Guild ranks into a Guild Master, S-Class Mages, and finally regular Mages. Naturally, from what the name infers, a Guild Master is the one managing the entire Guild. An S-Class Mage is considered as one of the most powerful Mages in the Guild. A regular Mage is the lowest in rank, but that does not mean that they are a bunch of pushovers… there are many powerful Mages in this category that have the potential to become an S-Class, but since a Guild can only promote one regular Mage each year… every Guild holds only a certain amount of S-Class Mages."

Natsu seemed to listen to Makarov's every word intently as the whole thing was new to him. But what greatly piqued the pink-haired Dragon Slayer's interest was the S-Class Mage thing.

"So… what rank are you, Gramps?"

"Why, I'm the Guild Master, of course!" he said proudly as a matter of fact.

"Ehhh… that's amazing…" praised the boy with an amazed look. If he was the Guild Master, then he must be really strong! For Natsu, whose goal in life was too surpass Igneel one day, being stronger was almost like a duty for him. Of course, from the Dragon Slayer's point of view, the most logical thing to do was…

"Fight me, gramps!"

Challenge the man to a fight, naturally.

Natsu threw himself at Makarov with a flaming right hook ready for action. However—

"Gofu—!" Natsu's face met the hard surface of the ground as his head was chopped by an enlarged hand, courtesy of Makarov's Magic.

"Ho ho ho, it's still too early for you to have a match with me, Natsu." Said Makarov as he retracted his hand, reverting back to its original size.

Natsu slowly rose to his feet, clutching his smoking head in pain. "Damn it…"

The boy was broken out from his pain as he felt a light tremor on the ground. "Eh?"

"STOP MOVING SO MUCH, DAMNIT!" An annoyed shout was heard from nowhere. A crashing sound soon followed after.

Sensing his Servant's presence and Gray, Cana, and Erza's magical signature nearby, Makarov predicted that Shirou must've been dealing with the three younger members of the Guild. He was about to inform Natsu… only to find the latter missing from where he previously was. "…This will be a long day," he exclaimed to himself, followed by an exasperated sigh.

(With Shirou)

Shirou stood in a mellow manner with Torashinai resting on his shoulders. He eyed the three worn-out looking figures with their limbs on the ground from exhaustion. Obviously, since they'd been attacking him at full force without landing a hit on him even once. It all started around two hours ago…

* * *

_Shirou and Erza were walking towards Fairy Tail leisurely from their apartment. The both of them had been living together for more than a year, and Erza was insistent that they would have to come and go back to their apartment together, much to Shirou's confusion. Her attire had changed significantly as well. She now worelight silver breastplate with shoulder guards accompanied by a white blouse beneath it and a red ribbon tied to the collar of her garments. She also wore a white long skirt with a sword belt wrapped around her waist and a rapier hanging on her left side. Her legs were covered with blue stockings and she had on a pair of dark-brown leather boots. Her scarlet hair had also reached down below the nape of her neck, and was tied into a braid._

_On their walk to Fairy Tail, Erza started a conversation, "Shirou."_

_Still walking at a constant pace, Shirou gave a questioning look at the girl, "…?"_

_"Can you teach me that sword style of yours?" Erza gave the Servant a serious look. She knew that Shirou was strong, very strong in fact. She had accompanied him in his less-dangerous missions more times than she could count, and he nailed all of them like they were nothing more than a breeze._

_Shirou was lost in his thoughts for a couple of seconds. Erza wouldn't be asking him such a thing with no particular reason. She was one of the more rational members of Fairy Tail, when not agitated that is. But…_

_"No, I can't." he refused the girl's request in a gentle voice._

_"…But why?" her facial features turned into that of disappointment. Shirou had never denied any requests she had given him. Teaching her his style wouldn't be too hard for him, right?_

_"That's because my fighting style is too dangerous for you to utilize in real combat. You do realize the elements of my sword play, correct?" he chided the girl._

_Erza knew that his sword style can be said as nothing more but bizarre. He revealed fatal openings to his foes to lure his opponents into attacking those particular spots, and he would subsequently be able to block/parry their strikes, unleashing his own counterattack before the enemy could do the same. If used wrongly, this would lead the ultimate death of the user… but for Shirou, an individualwho had used this style for many, many years, was accustomed to this peculiar style of combat._

_Erza hung her head as if she had been scolded. Shirou had been an important family member to her, and he acted as a big brother figure for the younger members of Fairy Tail, including her._

_Shirou sighed, before he gave her a smile and a light pat on her head. "…I know that you won't ask for such a thing without a good reason. But there are ways for you to become stronger even without learning that ridiculous sword style of mine…" even Shirou had to admit that his sword style was ridiculous to say the least._

_Erza brightened up at the revelation. Unknown to both of them, they were too focused on the conversation that they didn't realize they had stepped inside Fairy Tail._

_"For instance… I could train you in developing your own Magic."_

_"Train!? Shirou, let me join!" two voices yelled at the exact same time. Shirou and Erza shifted their attention towards the source of the yell, and found Cana as well as Gray standing close in front of them. Cana in her orange and white checkered chemise and Gray with his usual nakedness, only still wearing his blue boxers. Frankly Shirou had given up on beating some modesty into the dark-blue scruffy haired boy… but it seemed that stripping unconsciously was a habit he acquired from his old teacher… and old habits died hard, he guessed._

_Of course, Shirou knew that Gray and Cana had their own reasons on why they wanted to get stronger. Gray wanted the power and ability to protect his precious peole and as for Cana, he had a clue on what drove her to become an S-Class Mage._

_Thus, he came to a conclusion. "How about this, I'll train the three of you if all of you can team up against me and land at least one hit on my body. Fair enough, right?"_

* * *

All in all, Shirou obviously knew that landing a hit on a Servant was no easy feat to accomplish. But he needed to be sure that the resolve of the next generation of Mages in front of him was not a bluff.

Eying the three tired figures in front of him, he taunted in a bland voice, "Is this the limit on what you three can do?" there was no arrogance in his voice, for his distorted personality immersed him in the thought that he didn't have much value as a human. Yet, that taunt appeared to be working as the three of them rose to their feet with unwavering determination clear on their faces.

Cana, with her Card Magic, was a type of Holder Magic which revolved around the use of Magical Cards and could be utilized for many different effects; she was mostly a long-range fighter with below average melee capabilities.

Magic were classified into three different types: Caster Magic, Holder Magic, and Lost Magic.

Caster Magic was Magic that is expelled from the body as opposed to Magic conducted through the use of a weapon or outside source.

Holder Magic was Magic that required a Mage to use an external source to produce their Magic, though it usually required the use of their own magic power.

Lost Magic was a type of Magic that had been obliterated from the history of the world due to its immense power and the sheer gravity of their side effects. However, Shirou knew that users of such Magic still existed, though the Magic itself was extremely rare.

For Gray, while he had high aptitude for melee combat, he is best suited as a close to mid-ranged fighter. His Ice-Make Magic and Ice Magic allowed him to create inanimate objects from ice and control them to a certain degree. Ice-Make Magic was a form of Molding Magic that allowed the user to create ice at will and to shape it into objects. In Gray's case, he used Static Ice Make, meaning that he could shape his ice into inanimate things or weapons, while restraining him from creating animated creations.

Erza, being the most prominent fighter out of the three of them, had more than enough potential to excel at any range in combat. Her Magic was Requip, but her particular Requip was called The Knight. Requip was a type of Magic that allowed the user to swap weapons, armor and clothes at will. Erza's ability to requip was extremely fast and she was the only sword Mage that Shirou knew to be capable of requipping weapons and armor while fighting, something that would surely make her famous in the future. She also used Sword Magic and Telekinesis, which amplified her capabilities in using swords. As the name implied, this was a type of Magic which revolved around the use of swords. Through the use of this Sword Magic, Erza was capable of using her swords to perform different Magical attacks. Telekinesis was a type of Caster Magic that allowed the user to wield things without touching them. Combined with Sword Magic, she had the ability to fire swords through the air like he did, allowing her to target opponents out of her physical reach. Erza's storage of weapons, however, was not enough for her to keep launching her swords without running out. Her collection of armors was also limited, since it had only been a year since she had gained some measure of control over her Magic. Naturally, the weakness of her Magic was the need to collect the necessary equipment over the years along with having a maximum capacity to hold it all.

What was scary about her Magic for Shirou, was the similarity of his Magecraft and her Magic. Not completely similar, far from it in fact… but from another person's point of view, they would regard their Magic as alike at the very least.

Shirou had figured out a very important fact about the Mages in Earthland. The Mages in this world literally had some kind of auto-reinforcement on their bodies. Shirou did not know how it worked, but apparently the larger the magical capacity a Mage had, the stronger their bodies became. A fact definitely proven when Gray failed to ambush him from the top of Fairy Tail, he slipped from the roof of the three-story building and fell on his back with nothing more than a slight back-pain for the whole day. Do note that the Fairy Tail Guild lounge's building had a total height of thirty meters above ground level.

It would also explain why Gildarts' blows back then were quite heavy even as a normal human… and why the destruction his Guild caused on a daily basis sometimes exceeded the destruction wrought by Servants when they fought. What a scary fact indeed.

Magic aside, Shirou would need to consider on what he would train the three of them in. He couldn't exactly cultivate Gray and Cana's Magic, but he could improve their physical capabilities. As for Erza, the similarity of their Magic allowed him to train both her Magic and her combat prowess. But of course, they needed to figure out their mistake before he could even think of training them.

(With Erza, Gray, and Cana)

With her right hand tightly holding her rapier's hilt, Erza recomposed herself. The three of them couldn't land a hit against Shirou, there must be something wrong going on. Erza attempted to analyze their moves as they repeated their attacks once more.

Erza bent her right knee before she charged in a quick motion and let out several lightning-thrusts of her rapier aimed at the Servant's torso. Shirou parried a few thrusts with his reinforced Torashinai and evaded most of it by twisting his body several times.

"Get out of the way, ERZA! Ice-Make…" Gray yelled several meters behind the two clashing knights, chilly air coming out from where his hands were connected. Not expecting this, Erza hastily broke off her attacks, sprinting away to avoid the impending strike.

"Hammer!" A gargantuan sized hammer immediately formed a few inches above the white-haired knight, before the latter narrowly dodged the attack with a quick dash to the left. The resulting crash gave rise to a cloud of dust.

"You moron! Now I can't aim my attacks at him!" Cana cried at Gray, the former with two tarot cards ready to be flung at a moment's notice.

"Don't blame me, you idiot!" the Ice-Make Magic user retorted back, both of them with angry tick marks on their heads.

Unfocused, they didn't notice a figure bursting out from the cloud of dust until it gave them a light hit on their heads with his blunt wooden sword.

"Gah!/Ouch!" Gray and Cana respectively cried in pain, both clutching their heads.

Shirou returned back to his original position with a smug look on his face, possibly from the amusement they were giving him. Their attacks weren't necessarily weak, they were quite strong and fast enough… but their attacks hindered each other and prevented the kids from successfully hitting the agile swordsman.

'Wait, that's it!' Realization struck the sword Mage. Teamwork, that was what they were missing! All of their attacks were uncoordinated, that was why Shirou was able to dodge them as if they were nothing. For them to succeed, they needed a plan.

"Gray, Cana! Come here, I have a plan!" Erza called out on her quarreling comrades, but they were too occupied on yelling out names at each other…

A vein popped out her forehead as her body was engulfed in an invisible dark-red aura, her voice becoming grim, "Did you hear what I just said, you blabbering fools…!"

The once disputing couple eeped in surprise and hugged each other, their faces paling in fear from the scary expression that adorned Erza's face. They hastily nodded and the three gathered in a small circle.

(Back to Shirou's side)

That was the first time Shirou had seen Erza with such an expression… and even he slightly cringed at such an aura. She had never shown him that side of hers when they were together!

A plan… that would've meant that Erza had figured out what they were lacking. He eyed at the three with wonder and expectation, his Torashinai resting at his right side.

They broke off from their small circle after they gave each other a nod of affirmation and went to their respective positions.

Shirou raised an eyebrow, anticipating their assault any time now.

Erza closed her eyes and was enveloped by golden light, until it dissipated and revealed Erza in her Black Wing Armor, the current strongest armor she had in her pocket dimension. The armor was black with silver trimming with silver crosses in several places. It had a revealing silver-edged breastplate and plates flanking her hips that reached down to her waistguard. The waistguard left the front of her body exposed, with her groin covered by a dark imbuement. On her back were two wings that had black metal armaments on her shoulders acting as the wings' leading structure. Her hair was now tied into a ponytail, both of her hands holding a single sword with a black hilt and sharp curve. Erza's swordsmanship hadn't been trained to perfection as she had yet to develop her own sword style, but it was enough for her to be a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield.

Gray, standing close beside her, struck his palm with the underside of his fist. An icy mist formed under his fist before his hands formed a single broadsword created out of ice, ready to cut down anything in its way.

Cana was idly standing a couple of meters away from the two, but Shirou could tell that she was preparing something as he noticed four tarot cards that she quickly hid behind her back.

Erza launched herself at Shirou with impressive speed, Gray dashing right behind her, sword at the ready. Shirou de-traced Torashinai and projected a short sword in each hand. Upon entering melee-range, Erza jumped up and let out a diagonal slash directed at Shirou's chest. Shirou arched his upper body backwards and avoided the curve of the blade. As expected, Gray rushed in below Erza's figure, his arms extended behind his back with his icy blade prepared to strike. He leapt up and swung his ice sword in a horizontal slash at Shirou. Shirou intercepted the blade with his own in an X motion, causing small sparks to fly from the friction between the ice and metal.

Inserting enough force into his arms, he forced his blades and threw Gray up into the air. Erza, not allowing Shirou enough time to counterattack, disappeared behind Shirou and attempted an upward slash on his open back. The Servant's quick reflexes kicked in as he ducked the incoming attack and swept Erza off her feet, the latter losing balance and falling to the ground.

"I won't let you!"

At that exact moment, a bolt of lightning was unleashed towards Shirou's head from above, courtesy of Cana. Her long distance attacks would prevent him from focusing exclusively on Gray and Erza, with the opposite being true as well. With inhumane speed, Shirou quickly threw one blade towards the upcoming bolt of electricity, acting as a lightning rod, before he extended his right arm and caught the blade with ease.

Erza, having more than enough time to get back to her feet, sprinted out of the way as she predicted an attack from Gray.

"Ice-Make Lance!" four lances of ice formed and were shot at their stoic opponent. The weapons missed their target as Shirou backflipped into the air, the lances smashing into a nearby tree instead.

'Amazing, their movements complement each other…' Shirou commented to himself.

Springing herself up, Erza swapped her sharply-curved sword for a pair of falchion. She appeared right above Shirou's head, her artificial wings fluttering behind her back. The young sword Mage slammed both falchions onto Shirou's crossed short swords with all the strength she could muster. The resulting force was enough to knock Shirou's body back onto the earth while momentarily causing him to lose balance.

Shirou twisted his body to regain his lost balance, and as his feet were inches from touching the ground, another unexpected attack followed.

"Ice-Make Floor!" Gray slammed both hands as the dry ground beneath him and Shirou's landing spot was covered in ice.

Touching the friction-free pavement, Shirou's feet began to slide; but before he could fall onto the hard ice, he jammed his short swords into the icy ground for leverage and recover his balance. Erza however, would have none of that.

Resuming a stance in mid-air, Erza concentrated her remaining magic power as her blades glowed a bright blue.

"Haaaa…!"

She slashed the air below her twice with both falchion in a cross pattern, unleashing two beams of pure magical energy in a cross hurling towards Shirou.

*Boom!*

An explosion ensued as the attack detonated upon touching the frozen ground. The resulting cloud of smoke blocked the vision of Erza and Gray, preventing them from following up with more attacks.

Unfortunately for the three of them, Shirou had already expected Erza's move, safely avoiding that blast of magical power by pushing himself off the swords he had embedded in the ground and even using the frozen ground to increase his speed.

His body slid out from the cloud of smoke… only to find six floating tarot cards surrounding him.

"…!"

Well, he certainly didn't expect this one.

*Boom!*

A fiery explosion engulfed the Servant's figure, this time the whole field they were sparring in was covered in smoke and dust.

Erza, Gray, and Cana stood side by side, the former two panting hard from the magic power they had expended from their magical assault. Although, their faces were what you could describe as 'awestruck'.

"W-W-W-We did it!" the three of them yelled in celebration as they high-fived each other.

"Yes, you sure did." Shirou's figure can be seen from within as he marched out from the cloud of dust in a relaxed manner, his face showing a small smile. Yet, he doesn't seem to be relatively injured. "You three passed the test, congratulations."

"W-wait… the attack hit, right?" Cana asked with an incredulous face. Since Shirou didn't seem to have any injuries on him, did that mean that she missed? Gray and Erza too gave the red-garbed knight a look of astonishment.

"Yep, here's the proof." Shirou showed the three a small singed spot on the red cloak below his waist. Obviously it came from the previous blast.

"Wh—"Cana gave her new mentor a look of disbelief.

"You see, when I realized that there were six cards ready to detonate around me, I projected a dagger in each hand and successfully destroyed five cards… but I wasn't fast enough to slice through the last one… so you did in fact land a hit on me, Cana," Shirou elaborated. "However…" he continued.

"I believe that Erza deserves the most credit for realizing the most important thing." Shirou placed a hand on Erza's head.

"What's that?" Cana and Gray curiously asked, while Erza's cheeks had a tint of red visible from being praised by Shirou.

"Teamwork," Shirou responded. It was clear enough that their initial approach in attacking him had been uncoordinated and fruitless, but when they worked together as a team, their assaults became far more effective.

That made Cana and Gray ponder for a while as they tried to recall their initial attacks… which ended up failing. Erza nodded in acknowledgement as both of her fellow comrades dropped their heads in realization of their error.

"And for that, I think you deserve a reward. How does a cake sound? I'll bake it for you after we get back." He offered his new student and fellow roommate.

Everyone knew that Erza had a sweet-tooth that did not tolerate any disturbances while she was near her beloved cake. Shirou's ability as a cook was said to be nothing less than exquisite. He had baked her a cake or two once a month, but refrained from baking more due to the unhealthy effects they might have given the girl lest she eat too much sweets…

Therefore it was no surprise that she would get overly excited whenever he baked/attempted to make her one… and for her usually calm and stoic personality to flip into something different.

"Really!? Yay!" Still in her Black Wing Armor, the girl latched herself onto Shirou's waist, burying her face in his hard abs. Her hug contained so much force that it seemed to suck the life out of Shirou as his face was increasingly paler by the second.

Gray and Cana's mouths were gaping like a fish as they had never seen this side of Erza. The calm, stoic, sometimes cold, and fearful Erza they were far more familiar with!

"Can't… breathe…" Shirou gasped, his eyes shifting to Cana and Gray in hope of some help. Unfortunately, they were too shocked to respond to his desperate plea.

"THAT… WAS… AMAZING!" An unfamiliar shout in their direction was heard as a pink-haired boy wearing a white muffler was running towards them at an incredible speed. The boy stopped running, followed by a screech as he came to a halt in front of Shirou, the latter still being latched onto by an over-excited Erza, although she herself was looking at the boy in puzzlement.

"You're Shirou, aren't you? Fight me!" the boy was eagerly bouncing up and down, probably from sheer excitement as his eyes were literally shining with sparks.

…

Well, he did sense his Master's presence nearby… so the boy might be related to his Master somehow…

"How did you know my name?" Shirou asked the boy as he tried to reaffirm his guess.

"That would be because I told him, Shirou." Just as Shirou thought, it had something to do with his Master. Makarov walked towards the group in a leisurely manner, his left arm behind his back while his right was waving at them. Once he was at arms distance from the boy, he continued, "This boy is Natsu Dragneel, our new guildmate."

'Natsu…Dragneel…?' The name struck Shirou hard as he immediately recalled what Zeref had told him four years ago.

He was the boy Zeref mentioned that would have the power to destroy him one day… Natsu, the Fire Dragon Slayer Mage. Even Shirou could tell that the boy's magical capacity was enormous, and it would only grow larger over time. Truly, he would be a force to be reckoned with… given enough time for him to train and maximize his potential of course. The Servant toyed with the idea of training the boy, but he couldn't really do much for the boy's mastery over his magic, he would have to do that himself… although, he could improve the boy's battle awareness, reflexes, and his melee capabilities.

"Ho ho ho, you're so lucky Shirou, having a cute girl like Erza in that skimpy armor latching on you like a leech." Makarov's face turned into his usual perverted features as he gave Shirou an envious look.

…

At a speed that no human could comprehend, Erza let go of her roommate and requipped back into her usual attire, her cheeks blushing slightly as she realized what she had just did in front of her guildmates. It was a secret persona of her for when she was alone with Shirou… and cake. Yes, cakes… specially baked for her by Emiya Shirou, culinary extraordinaire.

"…Ignoring that comment, I can't fight you right now, Natsu," Shirou proclaimed with a hint of disappointment from not being able to see what the boy was capable of.

"Heeehhh… Whyyyy?" the pink-haired Dragon Slayer questioned conspicuously.

Shirou merely pointed in the location where he and the group had fought moments before. "Look."

The whole place was covered in craters; clouds of smokes still being emitted from where there were impacts from magical attacks. Crumbled rocks littered the whole place, and the uneven landscape made it a poor choice for further sparring.

After a brief silence from analyzing the destruction they had wrought to the whole area, Natsu pointed his index finger in Gray's face with an aggravated look,"Damnit! This is all your fault, ice-boy!"

Gray, not liking the blatant accusation directed at him by the new kid, retorted back, "What did you say, slanty eyes?"

"I said, this is all your fault, you ice cream freezer!" Gray hadn't been the only one who had caused ruin over the area, since Cana and Erza contributed as well… but Gray was the one who had caused the MOST destruction… before they began to work as a team that is. And Natsu felt that blaming the walking refrigerator seemed like the most logical thing to do… as he was somehow seemed naturally inclined to do so.

"You wanna go at it, punk?"

"I'll incinerate you to ashes, bastard!"

Both boys banged their heads together, Natsu's hand covered with bright-red flames while Gray's were emitting coldness all around. They didn't notice that a dark figure with glowing eyes and scarlet-hair was directly behind them with its arms crossed.

*Bam!* *Bam!*

Two solid hits on the boys' heads resulted in the two would-be combatants breaking away from one another, both turning around to see an angry looking Erza with two tick marks on her head.

Gray, seeing the 'disciplinary' look on Erza's face, slightly cowered in fear in the hope of not incurring her wrath any more. Natsu, however, didn't know what that look on her face meant… and considered that hit as some sort of challenge.

Natsu took seven steps away from Erza, and viewed the girl with a look of anxiousness. "Kuh, that was underhanded! Now I'm all fired up!"

Makarov and Shirou were too engrossed in their conversation as they did not notice what was happening with the younger members of the Guild. Cana was looking at Natsu's idiocy with a look of clear amusement, while the mostly-naked Gray was desperately trying to warn the new recruit, and failing miserably.

"You idiot, don't!"

But it was too late, Natsu had already charged at Erza with two flaming fists extended behind his back, somehow boosting his speed. " Karyū no Ka— Buh!" As he was inches from striking the girl, his lower stomach met the girl's fist encased gauntlet as it knocked the air out of the boy, dispersing his flaming knuckles and causing Natsu's vision to black out. Gray and Cana cringed at the sight… that boy would surely fear her now.

Erza picked up the fallen figure of Natsu and placed the boy's body over her shoulders.

"Shirou," Erza called to the occupied man.

"Yes?" shifting his attention to the girl, Shirou noticed the unconscious figure of Natsu… but he wouldn't ask on what had just happened as he predicted it was probably something ridiculous. That's what he did whenever the whole Guild was a huge mess after he came back from his missions.

"Let's go back." She said. One wouldn't know that she was resisting the urge to drag Shirou back to their apartment.

(Scene Break)

That night…

The day had been quite eventful for Shirou. His Master had given Natsu a house of his own somewhere in the forest, but the place itself wasn't that far from the town itself. It was a bit run-down, but Natsu had exclaimed that it was fine as long as it was comfortable. Then Natsu and Gray had been bugging him for another spar or two, but fortunately for him, after they had a small conversation with Erza about who-knows-what… They hadn't pestered him for the rest of the day. A few days after Erza joined Fairy Tail, Shirou had not been mobbed by groups of women of various ages any longer. Shirou himself didn't know the reason… they simply stopped just like that. He guessed that they must've given up after three years of fruitless chasing. He didn't know that the real cause had something to do with his roommate.

Of course, he gave Erza the reward he promised the girl. A wedding-sized-cake… and the girl finished one fifth of the cake in just thirty minutes. And then he realized how Saber and Erza had a somewhat similar personality. Both were disciplined, calm, and a little fearful at times… but when it came to food, or in Erza's case, cakes… their personality somehow changed into something different. He snickered at the thought.

Shirou left his apartment, informing Erza that he would return after he finished his business at Fairy Tail. He would always inform her whenever he was about to go somewhere late at night, as she would never sleep without Shirou nearby. Why? Because if Erza went to sleep first, Shirou would always take either the floor or the windowsill as his resting place. The apartment didn't have enough room for an extra bed, so Shirou had offered her a room just for her. She had refused rather quickly… the former once again had no clue on why.

That aside, Shirou stepped in the Fairy Tail Lounge, which was as empty as it was supposed to be. The only one present was Cana, who was sitting at the table near the entrance, her tarot cards lying on the table as usual.

The Servant took a seat on the bench beside the table, his wide back right in front of Cana's. Cana, not letting her eyes wander from the tarot cards before her, started the conversation, "Shirou, what did you call me for?"

He laughed a little at that question, "I suppose I don't really need a reason to talk with a friend, do I?" This was what they would usually did after Shirou came back late at night from his missions in the past. He hadn't talked to her like this for some time now.

Hearing this, Cana also chuckled. "Yeah… we haven't talked like this for months… have we?" she flipped a card, revealing the word 'destiny'.

A few seconds of poignant silence followed.

"Are you fortune telling again?" Shirou belatedly asked the girl. Her abilities as a Card Magic user allowed her to be fairly skilled in the art of fortune telling. It wasn't perfectly accurate, but it was close enough. Shirou could guess on what she was trying to predict… and he was fairly sure that he was correct in his guess.

Receiving a bland nod from the girl, Shirou continued, "It's Gildarts, isn't it?"

"…!" Cana instantaneously turned towards Shirou, her eyes wide from shock and her face adopting a disbelieving look. How… did he know?

"From the looks on your face, I'll assume that I'm right…" Shirou's face indicated that he was serious… but on that face of his, a kind smile could be seen.

"He's… someone very important to you, isn't he?" This time, his face appeared a little sad, as his grey-steel eyes were focused on the floor below him.

Shirou didn't know what Cana's relationship was with Gildarts, but from the looks she was giving him when he got back from his long missions, Shirou could tell that he meant something to the girl. It wasn't a look of love, hatred, nor happiness. Rather, it was a look of loneliness and grief.

Cana nodded with tears budding in her eyes, her diminishing shock soon turning into sadness. She felt a hand on her head, as if it was comforting her.

"Swallowing your pride is not a sin, Cana. You don't need to prove anything to him, he'll understand… he might be a bit of a blockhead, but he's a good person." Shirou gave the sobbing girl a reassuring smile.

Out of all the members of the Guild, Cana was the only one with the highest desire to become an S-Class Mage, the second being Laxus.

Wiping the tears from her eyes, she returned Shirou's smile with her own. "Thank you, Shirou…" Cana gave the knight a light peck on his left cheek as she dashed herself outside the Guild. Cana had understood Shirou's message. The longer she waited, the harder it would be for her to inform Gildarts of the truth.

(Scene Change)

*Ding**Dong**Ding**Dong*

The huge bell in the center of Magnolia rang, signaling the return of Gildarts Clive. He had just come back from his SS-Ranked mission after only two months, probably the fastest mission he had done for the past year. Like usual, the whole town split itself into two separate parts, leaving a narrow path for him to return to the Guild. He never really did stay long in Magnolia… so he occasionally used the guest room in the Fairy Tail lounge. However, just as he stepped into the narrow path, he noticed a small figure seemingly waiting for him while leaning on one of the walls.

The figure noticed him, and slowly walked towards him… revealing a young girl with brown wavy hair tied in a long ponytail. Gildarts recognized the girl as Cana, the shy girl that has been a member of Fairy Tail for quite some time, longer than Shirou had been.

She walked in closer until she was a few feet from Gildarts. Cana was holding her left arm with her right hand, clearly nervous. "Gildarts."

"What is it, ojou-chan? It's already night, you know… It's bad for young girls to stay up this late." Gildarts gave the girl his usual grin.

"I… need to tell you something important…" She would tell him the truth now, no matter what.

"What is it?" Gildarts gave her a curious expression.

"The reason I came to this Guild was… to search for my father, you know?" Her heart was beating fast, hoping that she could just blurt out the truth right now.

"Actually, that's the first time I've heard of it…" Not getting what she was trying to say, Gildarts merely responded to her question.

Cana shifted her eyes slightly at that, before he went on, "So then, you're saying that your dad was in Fairy Tail?" If so, then he certainly did not know any adult male members claiming Cana as their daughter.

"Y-yeah…"

A quick breeze picked up, and her hair swayed from the gale. Mustering enough courage in her whole being, she finally said it, "It's you… Gildarts."

"Eh…?" he processed that particular information for a couple of seconds.

…

…

…

"Eh…?" he blinked once, twice. Then realization hit him… hard, she might add.

"EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHH?!" his scream of surprise echoed throughout Magnolia.

"A lot happened, but I was never able to tell you the truth…" she had always been scared of his reaction. Would he deny her? Would he accept her? Questions like these always popped out in her head whenever she was trying to tell him.

Thunder seemed to strike Gildarts as he was panicking like he never did before. "W-Wait a second! You're…" He stuttered with his eyes wide from shock.

Cana hanged her head down, expecting Gildarts to deny her anytime soon.

"Whose daughter are you?"

Wait, what!? Oh yeah, she forgot that her father was a playboy back when he was in his early twenties.

"Sara? Naomi? Claire? Feena? Mary? Eliza?" He began to list one by one the women he ever had a relationship with. He dropped to the ground, and counted with his fingers… his face clearly still in a panic. "No, no… The hair color's off…"

Again he listed another set of women, "Emma, Lyra, Jean, Sydney, Kate, Yuko, Francoise…"

A tick mark began to appear on the girl's forehead. "You old geezer! How many women have you had?!"

"I-I know! You're the splitting Mage of Sylvia! Like, you're of the same sex!" it seemed that his brain couldn't take the shock that it began to function wrongly.

"…I can't believe that such a philandering loser is my old man!" she exclaimed in a comical manner. "Anyway, so now that you know! Bye!" Cana turned her back towards Gildarts and prepared herself to leave.

"W-Wait…!"

Cana looked over her shoulders and angrily said, "That's all I wanted to say… I'm fine with things how they are…" Gildarts gave his newly found-out daughter an embrace, his black cloak fluttering as he did so.

"You're Cornelia's child… I'm sure of it." This time, his voice and expression are serious, although he couldn't really see the latter.

"Let me go…" the warmth of his body was comforting, like she had nothing to fear as long as that warmth is present.

"Why did you keep quiet all this time?" Gildarts asked her in a sad tone. All the years that had passed… and he didn't even notice that he had a daughter!

Cana paused for a moment, tears threatening to stream down her smooth face. She answered him truthfully, "I couldn't bring myself to tell you." Gildarts tightened his embrace with his other hand. "And time just flew by…"

"Cornelia is the only woman I've ever truly loved. She was the only one I had ever married." Why? Why hadn't he realized it? His daughter must've been alone all this time after Cornelia died… and he had been prioritizing his job over his own lover… and he didn't realize that Cornelia had been carrying his child.

"She left me after getting frustrated at me from me always too focused on my jobs 11 years ago. I heard that she had passed away… but to think she left a child…" he lamented ruefully. "I'm sorry; I didn't realize it was you." He apologized in a regretful tone.

Cana, not wanting her father to blame himself, assured him, "It's okay. I purposefully hid it from you. Sorry for being selfish." She herself also apologized, avoiding eye contact. She placed both of her hands on her chest, and closed her eyes. "I finally feel like a heavy weight has been lifted from my chest."

"I had a daughter this close to me…" he gritted his teeth hard in self-loathing.

The girl raised a hand to prevent him from continuing, "Don't be like that… I'm not saying that you should take responsibility or anything." She smiled a bit before wiping the budding tears. "Let's just talk more and learn about each other slowly, okay?"

"But, let me say this just once…" She took a deep breath, and smiled at her father, a hint of red visible on her cheeks. "I'm glad I got to meet you, Father." She proclaimed in a cheery tone.

Gildarts, not expecting such a thing, looked at his daughter, before tears streamed down his face.

"Cana!" he once again embraced the girl. He'd never let go of her, as she was the daughter of Cornelia, the woman he loved and lost. Even though he had been a failure as a father until now, he vowed to become a better one from now on so that she would never feel lonely like that again.

"I'll never let you feel lonely again… never again!"

Upon hearing such a thing, Cana couldn't help but shed tears once more. Even though she promised herself that she would never cry again…

'Swallowing your pride is not a sin, Cana…' Shirou's voice reverberated inside her mind as she remembered what the knight had told her.

'That's right… isn't it, Shirou?'

"From now on, when I go on a job… or go out drinking… I'll be together with you, always!"

She let out a small chuckle. "You don't have to do that… let's just take our time…" she closed her eyes in happiness, finally able to reunite with her father.

"So… Please give me the right to love you!" his hug intensified. The two kept on embracing and sharing each other's warmth, two family members enjoying each other's company. Their tears reflected the beauty of the moonlight.

Unknown to them, an invisible figure clad in red had been watching the whole spectacle, leaning on one of the walls. He smiled at the two, at the reunited father and daughter. He then leapt into the midnight sky, journeying back to his humble abode. Any longer and Erza would get angry at him… and even he knew what would happen lest he incurred her wrath.

'I'm happy for you, Cana.' He smiled at the thought as his leaping figure was bathed in moon light.

**End of Chapter**

* * *

**Author's note continued**: So, damn, tired… nah, just a bit stressed is all. For those who are curious on what Erza did to Shirou's fangirls… you can think what you want, I'm not going to tell…

Regarding the power levels, yeah… Auto-reinforcement. One logical explanation that came into my head. I'll be clear with this, Gildarts' magical capacity is huge, and his reinforcement is more potent than many of the other Mages. I'll say that his strength level is bordering E rank (10 times more powerful than a regular human). Don't ask why Shirou wasn't able to curbstomp him when his strength level is D, twice from Gildarts'. I explained that he needed to act more 'human' than 'inhumanely strong anomaly'. I myself think that the power levels are quite balanced, do note that some magic in the FT world will be regarded as True Sorcery (something unreachable by magecraft or modern science), something which is very rare in Nasuverse. And why the hell are the FT casts so damn destructive? Because of the pure mana outbursts here and there of course.

Next chapter WILL come out late, because I won't be posting another chapter without letting it be edited first. Readers, I hate stories with bad grammars just as you do unless it has a very good idea it compensate the imperfect grammar. So don't think that I'm dead from one or two months without an update.

**(Okay, forget all I said about 'definitely not a harem' part. Due to my indecisive nature, I decided to hold back the definite pairings until the next two chapters. Because most people adore Harem pairings, while some purely despise them for a reason I've yet to find out. I created another pole, but this time, please vote because your vote will surely effect my decision this time... find it in my profile. I'll consult this with my beta and a few others... so just wait for the announcement.)**

**This chapter is edited by Vandenbz, much credit for him for the excellent work.**

Well, nothing much to say here… But...

Review!


	6. Author's Announcement

Well, all I can say to all of you readers is sorry for not updating for quite a while and HAPPY NEW YEAR! I know that most of you are expecting an update from this story, and rest assured, I am not inclined to abandon this story anytime soon. Thank you for all the reviews and comments on this story, both good and bad. I'll admit that there was a time when I was tempted to stop writing because I felt somewhat inferior in my writing skills, and there was also a time when I got discouraged after seeing quite a negative comment about this story. But, I suppose it's just two of the many obstacles of being a good writer. Being a writer is merely a small hobby of mine, but that doesn't mean I don't want to improve. I'm quite surprised that this story got quite a lot of attention with all the favorites and followers though, it's very refreshing to know that.

Ah well, disregarding my 'usual rant', I'll just inform that the next chapter is in progress. I did have a lot of 'distractions' and studies to meddle with for four whole month right after the last update, so I hope you readers haven't given up on me yet. I am somewhere in between 2-3k words right now, and I expect myself to finish it at least by the end of Sunday.

I know that this isn't much, but at the very least I will answer most of your questions to compensate for my lack of absence.

**kenegi: Yes, I do realize that Shirou could just alter his sword to be blunt and harmless, but the Torashinai (Taiga's wooden sword) is merely for comedic effect and it is the sword that Taiga used to smack anyone's head with. For the Ur part, I always considered that the magic that turns Ur into some sort of seal. Rule Breaker is a Noble Phantasm that reverts or cancels magic into its original form, or in Ur's case, revert her back to the way she was. At least that's the logical response I came up with.**

**MrNeedsToRemoveAllFavs: Mirajane, Elfman, and Lisanna will be present in the next chapter.**

**DarkPirateKing69: Ahaha, that's quite a suggestion you've got there. No, he won't be getting back to life. But yes, I do agree that he IS versatile in that he can be crossed in so many universes and be awesome in it (as in badass).**

**vodkacanidae: Wow, the author of my favorite Devil Survivor fic is reviewing my story (albeit I forgot to put it in my fav XD). Thank you for your compliments, and yes, a grown-up Erza that sticks to Shirou like a glue is very adorable to imagine.**

**Chrno: I don't expect everyone to approve and like this story, but I do appreciate your feedback. I will try to make Shirou in character as much as possible, but then again this Shirou is a different one from the VN. I am trying to become a better writer here, so if you do still read this story, your feedback is welcome.**

**SmileRen: Lucy will appear after I decided that it's time to go into canon. It won't be next chapter though.**

**Srey: Rather than the exact copy of Excalibur, it's rather a sword that has very similar property, ability, and appearance with Excalibur. But even then the Prana needed to conjure such a weapon is technically impossible. I'll try to keep up with your expectations by the way.**

**Arabeska22: A pair between Erza and Shirou? Maybe *evil smirk*. Yes, I do read mangas and watch animes. It's quite hard to find a decent one right now though.**

**Anon1/Anon (The same anon that reviewed twice or thrice): There will be flashbacks regarding Shirou's past and experiences, rest assured. It'll be after the story reaches canon timeline.**

I suppose that everyone is curious in the pairing that this story will be going with. After a much hard decision and critical thinking, I have decided that it won't be a harem. I like stories with the protagonist paired with a harem, but I do not think that I am a skilled enough of a writer yet to make such story without messing it up, even if the protagonist is Emiya Shirou, one of the most likeable protagonist (in my book at least).

And so, look forward to the next chapter, and a small omake to boot. A challenge from a certain person actually, and I have quite an interesting idea to use for it. Hint: Shirou and a certain fish with a freaking pair of wings. I'll take down this announcement and post the new chapter once it's ready, but I guess I'll have to break my word for not posting a betaed chapter JUST this once.

Well, bye for now.


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